Have you ever had an interview where you haven’t been progressed further, leaving you wondering where you could have improved, with no feedback given after the interview?  

As recruiters, we make it a priority to provide valuable and constructive feedback following an interview. Sometimes we will get useful and specific feedback and other times, it will be more vague (e.g You’re not the right fit). Other times, there may be no feedback at all but a simple ‘No’.

Common reasons we’ve seen as to why an employer may be reluctant to provide specific feedback:

• The prospective employer didn’t feel the interview went well and doesn’t want the specific feedback to be passed onto you to avoid creating a negative impression. They would therefore prefer to politely decline rather than giving feedback.

• Another candidate has been progressed and due to priorities and/or lack of time, an employer hasn’t come back with feedback.

• There may be internal changes at play, where the decision makers haven’t made a firm decision on you one way or the other and with time going by, you are left with no feedback.

Common reasons why you might not be successful following an interview:

• The employer feels you haven't properly prepared. You aren't expected to know everything about a firm or business, but you should know about high level points and the type of role that you're interviewing for in advance.

• You haven't articulated your thoughts or answers well during the interview. There can be an unconscious bias towards candidates who are articulate and communicate well in an interview.

• Your answers have been too brief or you've gone on tangents and not answered what's being asked (the ability to ‘read the room’ is key).

• Not the right personality fit.

• The employer feels your experience isn't quite right for the role. Although an employer can see what you've done from your CV, after interviewing you and hearing more about your specific work experience, they decide you lack enough experience or your experience isn't quite suitable for what their needs are. 

• There is another candidate in the mix that has stronger experience or is a better fit for the particular team.

• Salary expectations are too high.

• An internal change happens during a hiring process i.e. the scope of the role changes or there may be an internal hire into the role, which therefore affects your prospects. 

Not all feedback may be glowing and those candidates who are receptive to honest feedback have the ability to learn from that experience and interview better next time. We can help you with interview coaching and advice, as often soft skills are assessed in an interview. 

Contact one of our team, if you’d like to discuss this topic and how best to nail a job interview.