Written by Natalie Boxall..
You prepared for the interview, felt confident throughout but didn’t get the job. Asking the interviewer for feedback will help you find where you went wrong and help hone your technique. If your application stated you are competent, skilled and level-headed, then you should have presented a professional, confident image at interview. Replay the interview in your head and pay attention to whether you backed up the messages that you gave in your applications. If you conclude that you did put in a sound performance without obvious gaffes, you will need more information in order to work out why your application was turned down. Judy Reeve, a careers adviser from Manchester Metropolitan University, believes feedback is essential. ‘By getting feedback, an interviewee can find out ways to improve their performance for next time. It can be quite hard to pluck up the courage to ask why you weren’t suitable, but if you do get the information you need, you should be able to make constructive use of it. Getting feedback over the telephone is best as it’s informal and therefore a much nicer experience.’ Jo Cox from Asda’s graduate recruitment department anticipates telephone requests for feedback: ‘Usually it’s not that the interviewee did anything wrong, just that there was someone more suitable for the job. Getting feedback can encourage an interviewee to improve, which is why we make a point of giving constructive feedback.’ Judy Reeve advises: ‘Once you have got feedback you can modify your interview technique and take practical steps to improve any of your weak areas such as selling yourself or understanding the role. Also if you didn’t get the job, take heart in the fact that if they didn’t respond to your interview skills, you may not have enjoyed the job if you had been successful.’ Related topics:
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