What You Need to Know About Business

Asking Questions -- An Essential and Overlooked Step

Other articles:
Putting a Spin on Work Experience

[Chapter 21: continued from here]
But there's more to it than a desire to avoid criticism-I believe that your approach to interviews should be grounded in proven principles rather than in the idiosyncratic likes and dislikes of a individual interviewers. People are quick to assume that what they like is what you should be doing, and that's often not the case.

You don't have to ask the interviewer what these principles are -- this book and several others (see Appendix) describe them. The question then becomes how well you are acting in accordance with those principles.

Since there are only two witnesses to your interviews-you and the interviewer-there are only two people who can make informed suggestions on how your performance in actual interviews can be improved. You'll have to decide for yourself how much weight you give to their comments. Certainly if you notice a pattern in the responses you get from different interviewers, you've likely identified a problem to work on.

It can be difficult to approach an interviewer for feedback. If you tell them you want to ask about how they reached their decision it will probably sound like you're challenging the decision or demanding conclusive justification of it. No one is going to speak with upset interviewee bent on confronting them and insisting to know why they weren't chosen.

It's better to say that you'd appreciate it if they could give you some specific feedback or leads to help you in your meetings with other employers. At this point the interviewer may be feeling some sympathy for you, and they may be more receptive to helping you out -- as long as you maintain a positive attitude.

Don't challenge any comments they make-even if you think they're completely wrong. That interview is over. Thank them for their time and move on. Be sure to write down what they say. You may find that you can give it a fairer hearing after some more time has gone by.