Don't be scared to ask for feedback!

Recently I was chatting with a job hunter who was keen and enthusiastic with great experience but struggling to get booked for an interview. She told me how frustrating it was that she hadn’t heard back from a job she really wanted and had applied to 4 weeks ago. My first question was “Have you phoned them for feedback?”. The answer was no and when asked why, her response was “I don’t want to put them off, or seem too pushy”. 

This is typical of job-seekers, caught in no-mans-land, wanting to appear keen and pro-active but frightened of scaring off potential employers. I pointed out that after 4 weeks, she wasn’t likely to hear from the employer anyway, so there would be little risk in calling for feedback. 

She called the employer, and politely asked why she hadn’t been selected for interview. After a minute or two of investigating, her records could not be found. She hadn’t been rejected, they simply didn’t have her application. The employer was impressed with her approach and as they hadn’t filled the job, she was offered an interview on the spot!

To be fair, the result is not always so positive, but it is always useful to know why an application was unsuccessful.   Perhaps your CV was not well presented, maybe grammatical errors held you back, you might not have followed the application instructions or you simply might not have been right for the job.

Whatever the feedback, you can use it to your advantage to help do better next time. Here at Sunshine Recruitment Solutions we’ve put together some key points to help you get constructive advice on your job applications.

• Follow up on applications,  but not before the closing date. The recruitment process takes time, so pressuring an employer before they’ve even reviewed your application is unlikely to win you an interview.
• Make contact by phone.   Do not send an email, emails are easily avoided and companies are reluctant to give criticism, even constructively, in writing. A quick, friendly phone call is always better to get the information you need.
• Stay calm, you won’t get constructive feedback arguing with someone, X-Factor style for not choosing you. Try not to take offence and be polite as you never know when your paths may cross again.
• Ask the difficult questions, “what could I do better next time?” and “would you consider me again in future?”. Criticism is never easy to take, but employers hate rejecting applicants, they want you to find work, so if they can help, they will.

You won’t always like what you hear but, if you know what is going wrong you can fix it, otherwise you risk feeling confused and frustrated 4 weeks later when no-one has booked you for interview.

Go on, get the feedback, it could open the door to your next role!