How to Ask for Feedback in an Interview

Story

Tips

Idioms

Introduction

Hello! It’s Kristine here with the Express to Impress podcast. Today, I’ll be talking about how to ask for feedback in an interview. 

Feedback in an interview is an excellent growth opportunity and allows you to clarify misunderstandings. In a perfect world, interviewers would give you feedback on the spot and contact you after your interview with their decision and advice. Unfortunately, this is not likely to happen, so it’s up to you to ask for feedback. In this episode, you’ll learn how to do it tactfully and effectively. 

To Get Good at Interviewing, You Must Practice

Most people are not great at interviewing right away. It takes practice. That practice can take place in a mock interview setting or actual interviews. With time and feedback, job candidates work out the kinks and perform well. It’s difficult to uncover your own mistakes, so I recommend practicing speaking in mock interviews with someone else, preferably a trained professional. Plus, feedback from your interviewer–whether that’s a recruiter or hiring manager–is critical to learn more about yourself and improve your chances of landing a job. Let’s look at the benefits of feedback from an interviewer. 

Benefits of Interview Feedback

1. First and foremost, you will learn something new about yourself. Maybe you interrupt others and never realized it. Perhaps you don’t seem passionate about a job opportunity, even though you’re genuinely excited about it.
2. Another benefit is that you will learn how to improve your job search. Perhaps the employer doesn’t believe you are the right person for the job because others have more advanced skills in an area. With that information, you could apply for jobs where that skill isn’t as important or invest time in developing that skill. The interviewer could believe you are a good fit for the company culture but in a different role. In the future, the company may contact you about a job opportunity.
3. By asking for feedback, you will also demonstrate you’re coachable and eager to learn and grow. Now that’s a predictor for success in the workplace! You may simultaneously open the door to future opportunities. Asking for feedback could renew the interviewer’s interest in you as a candidate or compel them to introduce you to an employer that may have an opportunity.
4. Many candidates assume that they were clear in conveying their experiences, expectations, and qualifications. Yet, it’s easy to be misunderstood, and it happens all the time. So, by asking for interview feedback, you’ll be able to confirm that you are being understood as a candidate and resolve misunderstandings.
5. If you request feedback in an interview in just the right way, you’ll also project confidence. 
6. Finally, finding out what went wrong in the interview will give you a sense of closure. Not knowing why you weren’t chosen is like not hearing the end of a story. After all that effort, you deserve to know how your interviewer perceived you.

Sample Interview Feedback

Ideally, you want to find out what you did well and what could have been better during the interview. Most recruiters and employers who share feedback, stick to the facts. You may get more feedback if you are interviewing for an internship, new in your career, or you already work for the company in another position. The interviewer could see the rejection as a coaching opportunity for you. Here are some examples of interview feedback. 

Examples of Praise

• You were well prepared.
• It’s clear you share our company values.
• You understand the position well.
• I’m impressed by the clarity of your career goals.
• You are well-spoken, which would serve you well in the role.

Examples of Feedback Regarding Areas for Improvement

• Your responses did not showcase the digital marketing capabilities we are looking for. Is there anything you would like to add?
• A couple of other candidates seem to have more knowledge than you about digital marketing. 
• Strong communication skills are vital for success in the role. Unfortunately, you interrupted us several times while we were talking. 
• In some cases, it was hard to follow your train of thought. Could you summarize your contributions in your current role?
• As you pointed out, you do not have a lot of experience working with Hubspot. What gives you confidence that you will be successful in learning and using Hubspot?
• Stronger communication skills are necessary for a client-facing role. 

While feedback can be hard to swallow, you need it to improve your interview skills and land a job.

Story

In the story section of today’s episode, I’ll be sharing some of the feedback regarding areas for improvement I give to my clients in their mock interviews. 

Many new interview clients come to me and say they are landing job interviews, arriving prepared, and feeling good about their performance, but they’re not getting job offers. In most cases, my clients have not asked for feedback from their interviewers. They don’t know they can ask for feedback in an interview, assume they won’t get an answer, or believe it would be inappropriate to ask for it. 

It’s my job to uncover how they can perform better in interviews.

Typically, the mistakes fall into three categories: preparation mistakes, behavioral mistakes, and communication mistakes. Today, I’ll focus on some common communication mistakes. 

Communication Mistakes in an Interview

Many native and non-native English speakers make communication mistakes while interviewing. And while we all know that the best talkers do not always make the best employees, organizational psychologist Adam Grant points out, “Job interviews favor candidates who are the best talkers.” 

Here are common communication mistakes in an interview:

• Speaking too fast or too slow
• Telling stories poorly
• Talking in an unorganized way
• Speaking with poor intonation or pronunciation
• Using too many words, that is, unable to get to the point American English style
• Reciting answers that sound rehearsed, which can make the interviewer doubt the candidate’s speaking skills or prevent a connection and natural dialogue from unfolding
• Answering questions incorrectly due to a misunderstanding about what is being asked or failing to answer a question fully
• Interrupting the interviewer
• Making demeaning remarks about a colleague, client, or past employer, demonstrating poor judgment
• Presenting ideas in a way that is unclear or unconvincing
• Sharing the credit excessively; failing to use “I” enough to show ownership of contributions

In a mock interview setting, I take the time to explain the mistake and what it could lead the interviewer to believe about the candidate. However, if the candidate were to ask an interviewer for feedback in an interview, they would be more likely to get a  general response, such as “Stronger communication skills are needed for a client-facing role.” This feedback is a helpful starting point, but more effort will be required to understand and fix the mistakes that hold them back from getting a job. 

If you are working with a friend or professional to prepare for an interview, share this list of communication mistakes with them, and ask them to listen for these mistakes.

Tips

How to Ask for Feedback in an Interview

Now, I have some tips for you when asking for feedback in an interview. There are two different points during which you can ask for feedback: during and after an interview. That’s right, you’ve been jumping through hoops, and now you get to pick your interviewer’s brain. 

Let’s look at how to ask for feedback in an interview. I suggest waiting until your interviewer asks you if you have any questions. Ask a couple of questions you’ve prepared and then request interview feedback in a way that feels natural to you. 

Here are some suggestions for questions to ask:

I’m incredibly excited about the prospect of joining your team. I feel the interview went well and that I would fit in your culture and have a lot to add. Is there a chance I missing something? Would you say I’m a good fit for the role?

Thank you so much for taking the time to share about your company and the role. I have one last question. Is there anything that would prevent me from being seen as a strong candidate for the role?

I’d also like to check in to see if you have any concerns about my ability to add value as your project manager. Out of respect for your time, I summarized my project management experience, but I would be happy to elaborate if you have any questions or concerns.

I want to make sure I’m giving you everything you need to determine if I’m the best candidate for the job. Do you have any concerns about my qualifications that would prevent me from moving forward?

As you can see, I recommend making a statement before each question that explains your motivation for asking it, and of course, to butter up your interviewer. 

If the interviewer brings up a concern, that’s your chance to take the bull by the horns. At that point, share essential information to reassure the interviewer you have what it takes to do the job.

How to Succeed in a Job Interview Online Course

In my online course, “How to Succeed in a Job Interview,” I discuss more common interview mistakes and how to fix them. Many people who take the course find the handouts useful. Participants get a step-by-step Job Interview Preparation checklist to use before every interview. They also get 14-pages of common interview questions and how to answer them. The course is entirely on-demand, which means that you can enroll in the course and learn at your own pace. You can begin the course whenever you like, and there are no deadlines to complete it. Learn more about my 90-minute interview course on my website at www.express-to-impress.com.  You can get 15% off any of my courses when you use the promotion code podcast15 at the checkout. 

In the next part of the episode, I’ll cover the idioms and phrases I used for people looking to build their English vocabulary. 

Idioms & Phrases

Work out the Kinks

With time and feedback, job candidates work out the kinks and perform well.

It means to straighten out or resolve the problems associated with the situation.

Hard to Take/Swallow

While feedback can be hard to swallow, you need it to improve your interview skills and land a job. 

We use this phrase when something is difficult to accept or deal with.

Jumping Through Hoops

That’s right, you’ve been jumping through hoops, and now you get to pick your interviewer’s brain. 

It means doing everything possible to achieve your goal or please someone when there are challenging stages and processes to overcome.

Pick (One’s) Brain(s)

That’s right, you’ve been jumping through hoops, and now you get to pick your interviewer’s brain. 

This means to ask someone questions to get detailed information or advice.

Butter Up Someone

As you can see, I recommend making a statement before each question that explains your motivation for asking it, and of course, to butter up your interviewer. 

It means to be nice to someone, especially with flattery so that they will help or support you when you ask for something.

Take the Bull By the Horns

If the interviewer brings up a concern, that’s your chance to take the bull by the horns. 

When you take the bull by the horns, you acknowledge and confidently take ownership of a difficult situation.

Before wrapping up today, I would like to recommend a NY Times article for future learning. It’s “Job Interviews Are Broken. There’s a Way to Fix Them.” by Adam Grant.

Alright, that’s all for today. Thank you so much for listening to this episode of Express to Impress. If you found it helpful, please share it with a friend. I hope to see you next time. Bye!

Music By Lucas Knutter