Everyone in IT staffing has a story about a failed interview, an offer accepted and then abandoned, or a candidate who stopped replying halfway through a process. Vendors understandably want a way to share these experiences so others don’t repeat them.
Consultants have stories too: about being judged on a misunderstanding, losing opportunities over one bad week, or never knowing why a vendor stopped calling. They want a fair chance.
Both sides are right. The question is how to build accountability that doesn’t turn into a blacklist.
The problem with informal feedback
Today, most feedback in staffing travels informally: a message between recruiters, a note in an internal system, or a comment passed along in a phone call. This creates problems for everyone:
- It’s inconsistent, as one recruiter’s “unresponsive” is another’s “busy for a day.”
- It’s invisible to the consultant, who has no chance to respond.
- It’s permanent in practice, following someone long after the situation has changed.
- It’s unaccountable, with no record of who said what or why.
What fair feedback looks like
Fair feedback in staffing, whatever tool carries it, has a few essential features.
It’s based on real interactions. It comes from an actual interaction with the consultant, such as an interview or an offer.
It stays factual. Feedback is limited to observable events, never opinions, character judgments or personal attributes. It describes what happened, not what someone is like.
It uses clear categories. Instead of open comments, feedback fits into set categories such as interview outcome, responsiveness, communication or offer behavior. This keeps it comparable and focused.
It’s presented as one party’s experience. Feedback is one vendor’s account of what happened, not established fact.
It’s recent. Recent behavior matters more than old history. People change, circumstances change, and one incident shouldn’t define a career.
Accountability that never forgets isn’t accountability. It’s a blacklist.
Who benefits
For vendors, structured feedback provides a reliable picture of recent behavior, rather than rumors or gut feel. For consultants, it replaces invisible judgment with a transparent process they can take part in. For the industry, it encourages better behavior on both sides, because everyone knows the record is fair.
A shared responsibility
Fair feedback only works when everyone uses it responsibly. Vendors should share feedback only after real interactions and stick to the facts. Consultants should engage with the process rather than ignore it. Together, that creates something the industry has rarely had: accountability that both sides can trust.
Neutral by design. AxiomVee informs decisions; it doesn’t make them. Vendors and clients remain responsible for their own choices.
