Job Interview Feedback - Rare and Priceless

Posted on June 30, 2008
Filed Under Job Seeking

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!

Bonnie Lowe is author of the popular Job Interview Success System and free information-packed ezine, “Career-Life Times.” Find those and other powerful career-building resources and tips at her website: http://www.Best-Interview-Strategies.com

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Turning a layoff into a career catalyst

Posted on June 30, 2008
Filed Under Job Seeking

<a href=”http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bal-career0630,0,3143231.story”>Turning a layoff into a career catalyst</a>

Nine months into her first job, Mary Wisniewski returned from a business trip to Switzerland in April — and was laid off.

“It feels like I dreamed it up,” she says. “I could understand being fired if I messed up, but I never would have thought I’d get laid off.”

As employers look to shed workers in a struggling economy, Wisniewski and other recent college graduates are finding their jobs are over just as they have begun.

Job counselors say an early layoff need not be career damaging. They encourage recent graduates not to take layoffs personally, to deal with the issue honestly and to quickly begin looking for another job.

Related links

* Hanah Cho: 10 workplace trends of the future

“Getting let go is never a good thing, but it’s not nearly the black mark on your resume it was 10, 15 or 20 years ago,” says Brad Karsh, president and founder of JobBound, which helps college students and recent graduates land their first jobs. “It happens to the best of us, and it’s beyond your control.”

Karsh says those who have been laid off should reassess their situation and try to use the layoff as a catalyst for finding a more suitable job. He recommends being honest when interviewing for subsequent jobs, adding that most employers will understand, as long as they are told the truth. “That early in your career, it couldn’t have been much of your fault,” Karsh says.

Marcia Harris, director of University Career Services at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, urges those laid off to obtain a letter of recommendation before leaving the company, explaining what happened and why, indicating the employee wasn’t at fault.

Harris says recent graduates may have to take temporary, freelance or part-time positions to pay the bills while they seek another full-time job. Most won’t have big savings cushions, and many will still be repaying student loans or the costs of furnishing an apartment.

Recent graduates who find themselves laid off should check with their loan providers; many can help work out a deferral of or reduction in payment during times of distress.

Robert Graber, chief executive of Wallstjobs.com, a financial-services recruiting source, says recent graduates who landed their first job through campus recruiting will have to learn how to job hunt. “They may have to be more proactive,” he says.

Graber encourages those in the financial sector to consider companies beyond the brand names, such as smaller boutique firms and hedge funds, including those in smaller cities.

He recommends not taking the summer off, noting that looking for a job can be a full-time endeavor itself. Graber says job-seekers should do as much networking as possible, through talking with friends and associates, attending events, and participating in alumni clubs and nonprofit groups. Ms. Harris says many college career centers offer services to alumni free of charge or for a small fee.

Wisniewski, a Michigan native who graduated from Pepperdine University last year and moved to New York for a job as an editor at a jewelry-industry magazine, has found it tough to move on in a sluggish economy. She has interviewed with a handful of companies, including one in Kentucky that would require her to move again. “I don’t want to leave New York, but I might have to,” she says.

She says she worries because her short job tenure often comes up during interviews. “I don’t want it to be a huge red flag,” she says. She has considered omitting the nine-month stint from her resume, but is concerned that it will make her seem too inexperienced.

Wisniewski says that she has been advised that her layoff shouldn’t be a problem once she explains it, as many hiring managers expect to see these situations in a poor economy. “Losing your job isn’t the end of the world of course, but it’s still like getting a black eye,” she says.

Professionals urge people who have been laid off not to lose perspective, and to try to grow from the experience. That was the case for Gerry Wilson, who says getting laid off turned out to be a good thing.

Wilson graduated from Princeton in 2000 and took a job with MicroStrategy Inc., an Internet software company. After two months training at company headquarters in Virginia, he headed to New York to begin work. The first day, he was told that his consultant position was being eliminated.

Wilson parlayed his expertise with MicroStrategy’s software into another consulting position, making nearly double what his salary would have been. He later started consulting on his own and saved enough money to attend business school. There, he developed a plan for his own business, yoonew inc., an online exchange that lets sports fans bet on a shot at Super Bowl or World Series tickets, long before the event. He raised funding from angel investors and now runs yoonew.

“All I have done has been because I was laid off on my first day,” he says.

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10 Reasons Gen Xers Are Unhappy at Work

Posted on June 30, 2008
Filed Under Job Seeking

10 Reasons Gen Xers Are Unhappy at Work

Corporations really need folks in their 30s to early 40s, but there is a tentative relationship at best between that cohort and Corporate America

I’m worried about Generation X and corporations. As far as I can tell, these two have a tentative relationship at bestand are likely headed for some rocky times ahead.

Corporations really need Gen Xfolks in their 30’s to early 40’s, who should begin to serve as our primary corporate leaders over the next couple years. But I fear many current corporate executives are taking this small and therefore precious group for granted.

Many of you X’ers are not thrilled with corporate life. You tend not to trust institutions in general and deeply resent the Boomers‘ confident assumptions that you will be motivated by the same things that Boomers have long cared about. Many of you have told me that you are planning to leave corporate life “soon”to start entrepreneurial ventures or work for smaller companiesoptions you feel will suite you better than the corporate roles looming ahead.

Why are many X’ers uncomfortable in corporate life?

1. X’ers’ corporate careers got off to a slow start and many are still feeling the pain. You graduated when the economy was slow and the huge bulge of Boomers had already grabbed most of the key jobs. As an article in the May, 1985 issue of Fortune said: “[T]hese pioneers of the baby-bust generation are finding life on the career frontier harsher than ever…they’re snarled in a demographic traffic jam…stuck behind all those surplus graduates of the past decade.”

2. When you were teens, X’ers witnessed adults in your lives being laid off from large corporations, as re-engineering swept through the business lexicon. This engendered in most X’ers a lack of trust in large institutions and a strong desire for a life filled with back-up plans, just in case. Many of the adults you saw laid off and then struggling to reintegrate were in their 40’sabout the age X’ers are reaching today.

3. Most corporate career paths “narrow” at the top the perceived range of options diminishes as individuals become increasingly specialized in specific functions or roles. X’ers crave options, which assuage your concerns about being backed into a corner, laid off from one path. The sense of narrowing career paths and increased vulnerability is often most palpable at the transition from middle to upper managementjust where many of you are today. This step also often brings demands for relocation and separation from established social networksan additional assault on your sense of self-reliance.

4. Just your luckthe economy was slow when you entered the workforce and now its slowing once againjust as you are standing at the threshold of senior management. Stepping into leadership roles right now looks more difficult and the roles themselves, more vulnerable than they have at any point in the past decade.

5. And then there are those pesky Gen Y’s. Many X’ers are charged with “managing” Y’s whichlet’s face itis an impossible task, at least if you define “manage” as controlling their channels of communication. While vying for promotions and trying to look good, many of you feel that Y’s are doing an end run around.

6. X’ers are, in fact, surrounded by a love festand not feeling the love. As I wrote in last week’s post, Boomers and Y’s are learning from each otherand enjoying their interactions. It’s easy to feel left out.

7. X’ers are the most conservative cohort in today’s workforceand you’re surrounded by “shake ‘em up” types on both sides. In your personal lives, X’ers are not particularly keen on rules, but you had to follow them in the workplaceand you resent it when others now don’t. It seems unfair to be rewriting corporate etiquette when you’ve had to toe the line for so long.

8. Many X’ers’ are guarding a closely held secret: you’re not all as comfortable with the technology that is changing the way things are done as everyone seems to think you are. While it’s perfectly acceptable for Boomers to feign ignorance and ask for help, it’s embarrassing for X’ers to do so.

9. And if Boomer colleagues are annoying, the Boomer parents of your Y reports are down-right over-the-top. X’ers can’t believe the frequency of Y-parent interactions and are deeply turned off by parents who make their presence felt in the workplace.

10. Finally, your own parenting pressures are at a peak. You’re deeply committed to spending more time with your kids than your parents did or were able to spend with you, but juggling is getting more and more difficult.

Is it time to jump off the corporate train?

I hope notat least not for most of you. Corporations really need your leadership. But I understand that we need to create corporate environments that are more conducive to your needs and preferences.

I’m in the middle of my latest writing projecta book on career options and strategies for Gen X’ers. I’d love to hear from you about your experiences, frustrations, and success. What works? What doesn’t? What do you worry about? What would you most like to know?

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