YOU INVESTED HOURS OF PREP – DON’T YOU DESERVE SOME TIPS FOR NEXT TIME?
The graduate job application and interview process can be very demanding of candidates – so after all that work it can be gutting to hear you’ve missed out on the position. At the very least, aren’t you entitled to some useful feedback from the employer as to why you didn’t get the job?
Many Graduate Fog readers feel it’s the least they could do. As well as the time you’ve invested preparing, you may have spent money travelling to the interview, or buying a new suit. Unfortunately, not all employers are prepared to give feedback – either at application or interview stage. Many feel it isn’t their job to give you free recruitment advice – others are simply too busy. Graduate Fogger Patricia writes:
I had an interview for an internship yesterday and today received an email informing me that I had not been successful. I then asked for feedback but was told that they were unable to provide this. This is not the first time that this has happened to me.
I haven’t heard much discussion of this issue in terms of job and internship applications. I am guessing that if it has happened to me it must also be happening to others.
I find employers’ refusal to give feedback very frustrating as how are applicants supposed to know how to improve for the future? Surely also after all the hard work applicants put into writing application forms and preparing for interviews they are entitled to some feedback?
It feels like employers nowadays are more about themselves and what they can get out of applicants rather than giving young people a chance and nurturing their talent!
What experience have you had when asking for feedback on your applications or interviews? Will most employers offer something – or are they more likely to say they’re too busy? Is it unfair to ask an employer you’ll never work for to act as your personal recruitment adviser? Or do you feel it’s a basic courtesy to offer feedback to all applicants? Have your say below…
PS. We’d love to hear from employers and recruitment experts too!
totally agree with you that employers should but it depends on how many people the employers interviewed, if it was 2-5 i would expect feed back, i have read on the internet some employers will interview up to 30 people, to try and give everyone a fair chance, as there are more unemployed people than there is jobs, i think companies will struggle to give feedback as some candidates for jobs will be so similar, you would have to be very picky to then give feedback
I think employers should provide feedback after interviews – as in, it would be good if they did. I think asking feedback for each application received is unrealistic (although at least some acknowledgement of receiving the applications would be nice), but if an applicant is invited to interview, surely there must be something appealing about him/her and an insight into why the applicant was unsuccessful would be useful. Having said that, I suspect most employers would just offer generic statements like “X didn’t fit our criteria” or “other applicants had more experience / were better fit”, in which case they may as well not say anything. I suppose those employers who actually want to provide useful feedback already do, and while it would be nice to see more of them, I don’t think it should be a requirement or best practice point.
I can understand employers not giving you feedback during the initial application. But if you’ve made the effort to prepare and come to the interview, that’s the least I’d expect. I’ve had 15 face-to-face interviews since I finished uni in May, and I’ve only had been given any useful feedback for 4. Everything else is either a generic email.
I had a telephone interview with a potential employer. I thought the interview went really well. The person who interviewed me seemed very comfortable sharing information that he probably shouldn’t have divulged. For example, he told me that the previous employee did not actually like his job. I was very enthusiastic and keen to take on the role so at the very least you could argue I would have been an improvement on the previous employee. Unfortunately, I was informed via email that I didn’t get the position. Fair enough, there are always people with more experience. I replied and asked if I could have any feedback and was told that ‘we do not provide feedback at this stage’. In the time he took to reply and write that, he could have just given me a generic reason. So it’s very insulting to say the least. I know it’s an employers’ market, but a minimal level of decency shouldn’t go out the window.