Debut, the award-winning student and graduate careers app has demonstrated how one small start-up can impact an entire nation – and the activist behind the campaign is the company’s 28-year-old founder Charlie Taylor.

Charlie has made it his personal responsibility to lobby for better practise amongst employers when it comes to sharing feedback with candidates. And he’s doing a pretty good job. ERSA is now a proud supporter.

The research that instigated Debut’s Fight for Feedback

Research undertaken by Debut in April 2017 revealed that four in five candidates who have previously attended a face-to-face interview and have not received feedback from the employer (83%).

The investigative study also revealed the average cost of attending a face-to-face interview for the interviewee is £41, which can include travel, new clothes, dry-cleaning, but excludes annual leave from their current employer.

To add insult to injury, 51 percent of people said they also had to take a day’s annual leave to attend a face-to-face interview, which is a further £117 loss, based on the current average daily wage.[i]

About the Fight for Feedback Campaign

The Fight for Feedback campaign is a national campaign to lobby government to promote improved best practice amongst employers, when it comes to sharing feedback with candidates.

petition is at the centre of the campaign, as well as a major stakeholder engagement campaign, which has resulted in a them all coming together to co-curate a list of seven guiding principles for employers to follow.  

A new supporting website www.feedbackfriendly.com is set to launch in Autumn 2017, which will support candidates and employers to ensure feedback is offered, and when made available, that it is supportive of the candidates’ needs.

About the supporters

The Fight For Feedback campaign is already being backed by global employers, including 02, Network Rail, Fujitsu, EY, the FDM Group and Capgemini.

Almost all employment and careers stakeholders are backing the campaign, including: ERSA, Investors in People (IIP), the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), Business in the Community (BITC), Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) and the Institute of Student Employers (ISE).

Charlie Taylor, 28-year old CEO & Founder of Debut is investing his own time and resources into pushing the campaign forward in the interest of tomorrow’s candidates:

“Feedback is powerful, and anyone who takes the time to attend an interview is entitled to it.”

“It’s now time that employers saw the holistic value in giving feedback – it will have a positive impact on the quality of candidates in the future; it will cut down the time it takes to find the right person, and eventually the UK workforce will benefit as more people will be in employment.”

To sign the petition, or to stay up to date with campaign outcomes, visit the dedicated page here. If you’re an employer who wants to support the campaign contact Lisa@sensecommunications.co.uk.