Job Interview Feedback – Rare and Priceless

When you go to a job interview, the odds are against you. A typical job opening will attract dozens of well-qualified applicants; only one can be hired. So most people do not receive the desired phone call extending an offer.

What DO they receive? Usually, nothing. Some companies will send a letter or e-mail notifying candidates that a selection has been made and “thank you for interviewing with us.” Most companies won’t even do that, and the candidates will have to contact THEM to find out the status of the position.

Finding out you didn’t get the job can be frustrating, demoralizing and heartbreaking. Not knowing WHY you didn’t get the job can make you feel even worse-especially if you thought you did well at the interview.

So ask for job interview feedback. If you find out what went well and what went wrong, you can make adjustments that will help you do better-and increase your chances of getting a job offer-at your next interview.

But there’s a right way-and a wrong way-to do this.

How to Ask for Job Interview Feedback

If you receive a phone call notifying you that you were not selected, ask for feedback during that call. If you receive an e-mail or letter, ask for feedback within 24 hours (reply via e-mail or call).

But do NOT ask the interviewer why you were not selected. I know this is what you’ll want to ask, but don’t. Instead, word your request in such a way that the interviewer knows you are not questioning his or her decision, but would appreciate some constructive feedback.

Ask how you can improve, what your weak areas were, or if he/she has any specific interviewing advice for you. For example: “I have another interview coming up and I’d like to make sure I don’t make the same mistakes I made when I interviewed with you. Could you give me some advice on how I might improve my interview performance?”

People do NOT like to have their decisions questioned. People DO like to give advice. Usually.

Why Most Interviewers Will Not Give Helpful Feedback

As I said, most people do like to give advice. And unless you were arrogant, disrespectful or unprofessional during the interview, most interviewers will genuinely want to help you do better next time.

But that doesn’t mean they will actually give you helpful feedback. Many interviewers will not. Here are three reasons why…

1. The number-one reason? Fear of being hit with a lawsuit.

You’d think that as long as the interviewer doesn’t admit to making the hiring decision based on race, age, religion, sex, or any of the other protected categories, this wouldn’t be a concern. But it’s rarely that straightforward.

Suppose the interviewer told a female Asian candidate-truthfully-that she was not selected because she didn’t have enough public speaking experience. Now imagine it’s a complicated position, and after continuing to search unsuccessfully for more than nine months for the ideal person with the perfect combination of skills, the interviewer finally lowers his standards and, long after conversations with the original candidates are forgotten, ends up hiring a white male who has all of the qualifications except one: public speaking experience. The rejected Asian candidate may perceive that she was discriminated against, even though she was not, and file a lawsuit.

It doesn’t matter whether lawsuits are justified or not-they cost money to defend against and can damage a company’s reputation, so all companies are desperate to avoid them.

In today’s world where so many people are willing and eager to hire a lawyer and scream “I was treated unfairly!” you can understand why companies and interviewers choose to give feedback that is honest and generic (“We selected someone whose qualifications more closely matched what we were looking for.”)-but not specific enough to be helpful to you… or potentially harmful to them.

2. Another reason some don’t offer feedback is because they don’t want to get into unpleasant conversations with people who cannot accept the fact that they were not the best person for the job. Those people are more interested in debating the decision than in learning how to do better at a future interview. Here’s a typical exchange:

Interviewer: “You had many of the qualifications we were looking for, but we needed someone with stronger communication skills.”

Non-selected candidate: “But I’m a super communicator! Ask anyone! I even won a debate in high school! I don’t see how anyone else can be better at communicating than me! I think you’ve made a big mistake.”

Accept this: You will not succeed in changing the interviewer’s decision. That decision is based on your resume and what they learned about you during the interview. If you didn’t show the skills, personality, or other characteristics they want during the interview, that’s why you were not hired. It is natural to want to correct a wrong impression about you, but doing so, and trying to convince them that they made a mistake, is pointless.

I’m not saying hiring mistakes never happen. But expecting an interviewer to reconsider you after your interview is over and you’ve received feedback on why you weren’t selected is like expecting to be able to take a test over again after you’ve been graded and given the correct answers! It just doesn’t work that way.

3. Last but not least, some interviewers don’t want to give feedback because they honestly don’t know what to tell you. Have you ever met someone and immediately decided you didn’t like him or her, but weren’t sure why? It’s often the same in a job interview. It could be something about your personality, the way you shook hands, maybe even the perfume you wore that created an unflattering impression, almost subliminally, in the interviewer’s mind. Or maybe the interviewer does know what she didn’t like about you, but doesn’t want to hurt your feelings by mentioning it (bad breath, for example).

Benefit From What You Learn

There are many other reasons interviewers may not give you helpful feedback. But it never hurts to ask (in the right way).

If you DO receive helpful feedback, be thankful because it truly is quite rare.

Don’t take offense or become argumentative if you don’t agree with the interviewer’s assessment of you. After all, it’s just that person’s opinion. Besides, it makes more sense to respect the opinion of a person who works for that company, who knows the needs of the job, and who knows better than you whether or not you’re likely to be a good fit for the organization and the job.

The key is to listen carefully to the feedback the interviewer gives you. If something doesn’t make sense, ask for clarification or a specific example, but don’t get defensive.

Remember to thank the interviewer for his/her time and comments.

Once you have the feedback, be sure to work on whatever it was that held you back. If you were told you seemed disinterested, for example, you know that next time you’ll need to show more enthusiasm. Whatever the reasons given, whether true weaknesses or inaccurate perceptions based on your failure to successfully communicate your strengths, use that vital information to become better prepared for your next job interview, and get the job!