What I actually write in the interview feedback form (and what gets people rejected)

Candidates almost never see what happens after the interview. I've been a hiring manager for six years and have filled in some hundreds of these forms, so here is what is actually on it and what I write.

The form

Ours has five fields, and most companies I know use something similar:

• Problem solving
• Coding
• Communication
• Ownership and attitude (with a specific example required)
• Overall: Strong No / No / Yes / Strong Yes, plus free text

Two real examples (details changed)

"Jumped into code without asking about input size or edge cases. Solution was correct for the main case but candidate could not explain why it worked when asked. Did not test. Lean No."

"Got stuck at the halfway point, explained what was blocking them, took the hint well and finished with some help. Asked good questions about our on-call setup at the end. Yes."

Notice that the second candidate did not finish alone. They still got a yes.

What gets people rejected

• Not knowing your own resume. "I used Kafka." "Why Kafka and not a simple queue?" Silence. This ends more interviews than any DSA question.
• Blaming the previous team for everything that went wrong in a project.
• Inflated titles. If you were "Tech Lead" for a team of two for three months, say so honestly. We will find out.
• Arguing with hints. A hint is help, not a test of your ego.

What I love to see

• "I don't know, but here's how I'd find out."
• Clear trade-offs: "This is simpler but slower. If the data grows, I'd switch to..."
• Questions at the end about the team, how decisions get made, what on-call looks like. Not "what is the work-life balance" as the only question (though it is a fair question).

There is an Avvaiyar line my grandmother used to say: கற்றது கைம்மண் அளவு, கல்லாதது உலகளவு. What you have learned is a handful of sand, what you have not learned is the size of the world. The candidates I remember best were comfortable with the second half of that sentence.

Hiring managers: what do you write that candidates would be surprised by?