Do you ever email the interviewer when you DIDN’T get the job?

langenoir

Do you ever email the interviewer when you didn’t get the job and ask for tips or advise? I know it’s difficult to hear criticism, but you can’t improve without it right? What is a gracious way of going about this without sounding desperate?

shodown

Yes I have. I applied for a job with a company. I was told I was hired. They called me to discuss salary, once we came to agreement they said I would have a offer letter soon. Then I was called and said the upper management declared a hiring freeze for external candidates and they had to go through this process that they couldn't find a VOIP engineer internally. So I waited a few weeks and nothing. I called and he stopped returning my calls and stopped responding to emails. I wrote a pretty scathing review on there professionalism on glass door. The only reason I did was because they talked about there ethics and integrity when it came to hiring. The only contact I got back from them was them looking at my linkedin page. From then on out I decided to start working for myself.

Akaricloud

I have mixed feelings on this. On one hand, if you're not a very good interviewer then some criticism could definitely be useful. On the other hand, I feel like most of the jobs I've interviewed for and not received offers from are simply because I either wasn't a fit for the environment or the position and there isn't anything I could have done better from an interview standpoint.

If you think you're not getting offered jobs because of how you interview then it might be best to work on those skills outside of real interviews. Asking them for tips or advice pretty much says that you think you weren't offered the position because you suck at interviewing rather than it just wasn't a match for you. I'm not sure that you would get 100% true answers as they need to be careful about what they say to you about not getting hired so that it can't be taken as discrimination.

NetworkVeteran

langenoir wrote: »

Do you ever email the interviewer when you didn’t get the job and ask for tips or advise? I know it’s difficult to hear criticism, but you can’t improve without it right? What is a gracious way of going about this without sounding desperate?

I've only been on the opposite side of this boat. If you're curious, just ask them. You may be ignored, they'll probably give you some flowery words about how you rock but for some crazy reason they can't hire you, or they may give you a dose of honesty. You have little to lose by asking, but do remember to filter their response through common sense.

ChickenNuggetz

NetworkVeteran wrote: »

I've only been on the opposite side of this boat. If you're curious, just ask them. You may be ignored, they'll probably give you some flowery words about how you rock but for some crazy reason they can't hire you, or they may give you a dose of honesty. You have little to lose by asking, but do remember to filter their response through common sense.

Wise words from a wise sage. I second this!

langenoir

Akaricloud wrote: »

I have mixed feelings on this. On one hand, if you're not a very good interviewer then some criticism could definitely be useful. On the other hand, I feel like most of the jobs I've interviewed for and not received offers from are simply because I either wasn't a fit for the environment or the position and there isn't anything I could have done better from an interview standpoint.

If you think you're not getting offered jobs because of how you interview then it might be best to work on those skills outside of real interviews. Asking them for tips or advice pretty much says that you think you weren't offered the position because you suck at interviewing rather than it just wasn't a match for you. I'm not sure that you would get 100% true answers as they need to be careful about what they say to you about not getting hired so that it can't be taken as discrimination.

I think I didn't get an offer because the headhunter asked for too much money. He asked me 12 Linux questions and I got TWO of them wrong. He said that I was defiantly a cultural fit and was confident that I could do 80 % of the job. He also said was leaning toward me, but he was unsure I had the necessary Linux skills. I'm def JR Linux 7 Years Windows 2 Years Linux. The job was SysEngineer SUSE/Solaris which would be my primary tasks, but I'd also be doing Win AD after their Novell to AD migration, managing the EMC SANs, VMWare etc.

He had me do three interviews and at the last one said he'd review the prospects and their price and he'd let the headhunter know no later than yesterday. Well one person told me that if he's considering price that was his way of telling me that mine was too high. Personally I don't think $45/hr 1099 Contract to Hire and then 85k salary for all that tech in NYC is pushing it, but who knows.

Then someone said to me, "How do you know the headhunter didn't ask for too much and negotiated you out of the job?"

It really irks me because this is the second time I've gone through what I considered to be successful interviews with this Bluewolf agency and both times the headhunter just stopped responding to my calls. That’s just really annoying.

NetworkVeteran

langenoir wrote: »

Well one person told me that if he's considering price that was his way of telling me that mine was too high. Personally I don't think $45/hr 1099 Contract to Hire and then 85k salary for all that tech in NYC is pushing it, but who knows. Then someone said to me, "How do you know the headhunter didn't ask for too much and negotiated you out of the job?"

If you would've been happy to work for less than $45/hr, why did you propose that price? Salary negotiations for me have always been a straightforward matter.

"(After checking that their salary range meets your minimum requirements.)

I'd love to work for you company. That role sounds radical, dude!

(Your two nearest competitors are also making good offers, but I'm rooting for you.)

Given all that you know of me from my resume, interview, and references.. what do you feel would be a fair offer for the role you're wanting me to fill?

(Compare their offer to their two closest competitors and make a decision. Yes, price is a big factor but of course so is quantity and type of work, training, cultural fit, etc.)

Legacy User

@netvet You mentioned not stating your salary but what do you say when the employer urges you to to tell them your salary requirements because they need to have it.

NetworkVeteran

dmarcisco wrote: »

@netvet You mentioned not stating your salary but what do you say when the employer urges you to to tell them your salary requirements because they need to have it.

I give them a wide range, say $125,000 to $175,000, even if the form asks for a single number. I've only had one person push me to provide a single number before either of us met... which is silly, imho. I can't tell them at precisely what price point I'd work for a person until I know what work and perks are involved and how much I like the environment. They said, "Can I put down the lowest number?" I told them, well, if you absolutely must have one number, please use the higher number. "The higher number?!" Yes! Silliness begets more silliness.

KenC

I'd have to agree with Akaricloud on this one - most likely you will not get an honest individual answer, more a generic PR one, so there is not really much point. They usually indicate if they provide interview feedback and how to obtain it.

Don't waste your breath trying to figure out if the agency guy looked for too much or this reason or that - it is time wasted.

It is more important to figure out how you are at interviews. Try and consider how the interview went in hindsight, how you answered each question (not just the technical) and how you could improve on each. You may be asked something similar again, and your response will be more polished.

langenoir

Thank you for the imput guys.

pert

I would ask if I thought I would get real feedback. You won't though. You'll get a canned spiel, some bs, something completely irrelavant, etc. You REALLY need to analyze directly after an interview and then again a week later to try and determine where you made mistakes and can improve. Think about what specific factors make you uneasy, theyres prolly something to work on there. I really do appreciate honest feedback, but its virtually impossible to get in this scenario.