vlbrown-mzydt

One of the unfortunate features of job interviews is that feedback is commonly unheard of. Either you get the job… or you don’t. But, if you don’t get the job, you might want to know why not. Was it something you said? Something you didn’t say? Was it that you were under-qualified? Or simply that someone else was better qualified?

Several months ago, I had an interview for a job. I wanted this job. I knew I’d be a great fit and I would also enjoy the work. The company is one I respect. Their interest areas intersect with my own. The job offered a chance to write, edit, and review; community involvement; fun, responsibility, and a chance to make a real difference. Plus maybe a little bit of AJAX programming here and there. What wasn’t to like?

I interviewed for the position and thought things went pretty well. A request came in for professional references; that was promising. I sent those and waited a bit, then sent a follow-up note asking if they needed or wanted any additional information from me.

That’s when I got the “No Thank You” mail:

After much consideration we have decided to move forward with another candidate. It was a touch decision, as you are very qualified, but if anything changes or if we add additional head count, ….

Ouch. That hurt.

I consoled myself by assuming there was another more qualified candidate with more visible experience in appropriate areas. Perhaps they chose someone with specific experience with this company’s products. I’m talented and smart but experience, unfortunately, tends to beat out ability to learn.

Then, about a month later, I ran into a woman who is a professional recruiter. We got to talking and I mentioned this job. She expressed grave concern over the fact that I “lost” the position after sending in my references. She recommended I check to make sure that one of my references didn’t say anything, um, undesirable. She suggested that you never can be too cautious.

I took her advice and sent a request the next day:

Please send me any feedback from the team following my interview. I would appreciate hearing what others liked (and didn’t like) about me and what your reasons were for deciding to move forward with another candidate.

By understanding the feedback, pro and con, I can turn the interview into a positive learning experience.

I was expecting to hear about areas of technical proficiency or perhaps some question I could have answered differently. I was expecting to hear about things I could fix (preferably) or skill areas where I simply wasn’t qualified under their terms.

I was unprepared for the response I received.

[To be continued…]