How to Use Feedback for Interview Success

When you go into an interview do you tie their self worth to the outcome? Do you feel hurt when you don’t get an offer? We do a poor job separating what is within and outside our control. A job rejection feels like a rejection of you, and it hurts. But you can only impact how you interview. Pretend for a second that you could suspend your ego and look at your job hunt subjectively to develop a process with a strong feedback loop. One where, after every interview, you assess, improve, and do better. What would that look like? To start, acknowledge that issues could arise during the process. The JD could get rescoped, there may be an internal backfill or the job gets axed; stuff happens. Then, recognize that the interview cycle is the quickest feedback loop to refine your stories, questions, and answers. This requires process. Rather than applying for jobs, create a list of target companies Rank these companies from your number one choice to your nth. 1. Start with 3-4 companies at the bottom of your list This is your test run. Get into the interview cycle with these companies to understand the questions asked and the process. Assess your answers and improve upon them. 3. Immediately after the interview, write down your questions   Write down the exact questions asked and the answers you gave. Then think, "How do I feel emotionally about the question?" How you feel will tell you much about improving your response. Redo your answer and think, out of this response, what's the most essential sentence? And if you had to give a one-sentence answer, what type of response would you be most happy with? Based on that, reverse engineer your responses to determine what to include, what to leave out, etc. Over time, you will see the same questions as you continue your interviews. They may be asked differently, but generally, they will be very similar. 5-10 patterns will emerge that you can map out. 4. Plot these into a spreadsheet Roll out a spreadsheet with columns: A) Question B) General Concept C) How Comfortable Did I Feel With This Question?  D) What Was the Response I Gave?  E) What Should I Change? Map out the questions you're asked and fill in the columns. For your responses, come up with 3 solutions: 2 positive outcome solutions, 1 failed but learned enough to drive a successful resolution later. 4. Revise, revise, revise As you go through your bottom-choice companies, revise your responses until you get comfortable, confident, and concise with them and see positive feedback from your interviewer — this is where you want to stop. 5. Target your top companies Now that you have your questions and answers figured out using the STAR method go back to your top companies, get into the interview process, and knock it out of the park! Good luck, and if you implement this strategy, I'd love to hear from you! In the meantime, to find your next roles, checkout Jobright.ai. #layoffsupport #opentohire #jobhelp

The candidate (I'll call him John) had two interviews in one day for two separate technical writer positions. After the interviews, I contacted the candidate for his feedback. He told me that both interviews went well, and he'd have a hard time determining which job he'd select. I then reached out to the clients. Their feedback was diametrically opposite from the candidate's own feedback. They cited comments that he made during his interview that were derogatory about his coworkers (he had referred to them as 'stupid,' for example). They mentioned that he wasn't a team player. Neither client selected him for their open roles. When I called the candidate with the clients' feedback, he was shocked. He disagreed vehemently with the their assessments and comments. It can be SO difficult to know how we're doing when we're in an interview! It's tough to be objective about ourselves. My experience tells me that you either downplay how well you did or overstate your success in an interview. May I suggest two ideas to help: 1) Conduct a post-interview debrief with yourself - take notes soon after your interview to capture what questions stumped you, what questions you nailed, and your overall impressions of the interview. It can help you capture as close as "in the minute" the interview as a whole. It can provide you with insight on the things that went well, the things that didn't, and what you can do better in your next interview. The self-reflection can be so valuable. 2) If you've been interviewing but not landing offers, a mock interview can provide you with timely feedback. You can find out how your body language may be diluting your verbal message, how you're not talking concisely enough in your answers, etc. I wish you well in your next interview! #interviewing #interviewtips #interviews #jobseekeradvice

I didn't start landing job offers until I made this change. Over and over again, the same email kept hitting my inbox: "After careful consideration, we regret to inform you that we have decided to move forward with other candidates." It was confidence crushing. But somewhere along the way, something changed. I stopped treating the rejection like failure. Instead, it was feedback. That one reframe changed my entire approach. After that, every time I got one of those emails, I did three things: 1/ I asked for feedback on the process I only received a response 20% of the time, but it was enough to help me understand what my application looked like on the other side of the table. 2/ Review the interview Qs I'd research the questions they asked. I'd ask friends how they would respond. That helped me realize there were questions behind the questions. 3/ Review my answers I'd record my side of the interview, then listen to myself hem & haw through it. It was excruciating, and the best thing you can do to get better at interviewing. Change was slow, but it happened. I could feel myself performing better in interviews. As my performance grew, so did my confidence. It became a virtuous cycle rather than a vicious one. It started with the mindset. Feedback > failure. --- My name is Chris Ming. Follow for tips to land a remote job, go remote, and how to move your family abroad. #remoteworklife #workabroad #remotework

It's near impossible to get feedback after an interview. But what about before, or during, an interview? One time I had a recruiter reach out to me for a position using a language I hadn't used since college: C++. I wondered: why do I keep getting calls for C++ positions? Isn't it clear from my work experience that I code in a different language? Does anyone read my resume? I was frustrated. Annoyed. Irritated. I was mad at them for misreading my resume, which was clearly flawless. But I wasn't getting the hint the universe was giving me. (My wife will confirm, I'm bad at getting hints.) One day I decided to pay attention. I took C++ off my resume... And the world didn't end. In fact, I started getting calls for positions I wanted. That's when I realized I can get feedback throughout my job search, if I pay close attention. For example: → During a phone screen, "I see you have" statements highlight what's interesting on my resume or profile. → During an interview, any questions related to my resume shows me what's relevant to the position at hand. → During an interview, I could aske why they reached out to me, if it wasn't apparent from the discussion. I'd know what I'm doing right. And ever since, I make sure to get feedback before and during interviews. Lesson: Recruiters and hiring managers are dropping hints about why they reached out. Take note. Application: Next time someone reaches out to you on LinkedIn or gives you a phone call about an opportunity, ask them: what made you reach out to me? -- #techjobs #jobseekers #interviewprep #protips