Feedback from Interview

Question

I recently interviewed for an S.E. position with a major software company and didn't get the job. I really wanted this position, and eventually hope to find one very close to it, so it's important to me to know what went wrong. I asked the (in-house) recruiter for some feedback and was basically shot down, citing "privacy terms" (surprising, considering I am under an NDA with them).

I only asked once - during the conversation where I was told I didn't get the position - so I have an opportunity to ask again, I feel. What advice would you give me in trying to extract as much info as possible (positive or negative)?

Thanks,-aj

Answer 1

Was it in the United States? People are so litigious here, I'm not surprised that you didn't get any feedback. Any negative comments (aside from "you're not getting the job") are just asking to be pounced upon by the right lawyer. Nobody likes getting involved in a discrimination lawsuit, no matter how frivolous or baseless.

Answer 2

Privacy terms? I doubt they will tell you anything useful. You can simply and clearly ask again when you have the opertunity and then move on.

Answer 3

Most of the time, the information a potential employer feels they might be able to share with you is very limited for a number of reasons. When interviewing candidates myself, the thing which I am most forth coming with and feel is most relevant is my criteria for evaluating candidates. Ask them what specific criteria they are looking for and how a candidate that they would make an offer to would rank against those criteria. Then you can evaluate yourself against what they are looking for. I'd be surprised to find someone so forthright as to give you a frank and honest appraisal; I'd be even more hesitant to listen to whatever the recruiter might tell you was the appraisal.

Answer 4

My only suggestion is to ask open-ended questions. Obviously if the interviewer was a jerk (or good at his job - i find them to be almost equal) he's not going to give much info.

But you could still say: What can you tell me about my qualifications as they relate to the position I applied for? I am really interested in a career with this company. Do you think I am qualified to pursue a position with this company? Do you have any recommendations for my next interview with this company?

Answer 5

It's fairly standard in the US to not give any feedback at all. e.g. technically "we didn't think your personality was a good fit for the team" is not grounds to turn someone down for employment, if they are otherwise qualified, but we all know that fit is important. There are lots of "subjective and argumentative" reasons for not wanting to hire someone that would make the litigious interviewee salivate. (Not to say this is a reason why you weren't hired -- you'll just have to make your best guess based on the impressions you got in the interview. It's equally possible they found a particular aspect of your skills lacking.)

Likewise it's becoming more common to terminate employment "without cause" (and pay whatever severance is mandated by law) even if there are reasons to fire the employee, simply because it's cheaper to pay out the severance than to potentially explain to the legal system why the termination was justified.

Answer 6

Yes, it would be damn useful to know what their issue was.

No, you won't ever find out what it was. That's life.

It could have had nothing whatsover to do with you (sudden budget cut), it could be that they hated you on sight. Best you can do is try to see your interview from their point of view (eg: "Did this person just spend 10 minutes ragging on their last boss? Must have trouble with bosses".) and try to do better next time.