Do most people want honest feedback? Probably not. Some can easily be offended by it and take it as a personal attack against them.
But for those who are open to honest feedback, the impact can be incredibly powerful.
A few months ago a young women applied to work at the company I was with at the time.
She was currently employed, but didn’t see growth potential and wasn’t in the exact place she wanted to be.
But her resume wasn’t very good. There is a huge difference between “Show vs Tell” which I’ll get deeper into in another post, but she mostly told me that she was creative and motivated without showing me that she was.
We weren’t hiring at the time, but even if we were she wouldn’t have made the cut for the interview.
Normally, I’d just thank someone for applying and let them know we weren’t currently hiring.
Maybe I was feeling sympathetic, but I decided to give her direct and honest feedback.
I kindly told her that with her current resume, she wouldn’t get the job that she wanted.
But I also gave her some specific steps to take in getting her dream job.
She could have easily been offended by the feedback, but she wrote back really appreciative.
The three times I’ve received honest feedback, has been the best feedback I’ve received all year.
For giving honest feedback, here are three rules to follow:
1. It has be authentic. You have to really care about helping the person you’re giving feedback to.
2. Be honest with your feedback. How would will this help them? Or is it just tearing them down?
3. Provide action items. So what they are doing isn’t working. How can it be made better? Be specific.
