If you’re applying as an external candidate it would be hard to get feedback after an interview; especially if you don’t get the job. You might have some luck if it’s an internal interview. I applied for a leadership position with my former employer and was able to get feedback from my supervisor at the time. He wasn’t the interviewer for the position but he reached out to his network in the company for information.

Hi Michael,

Often times HR and recruiters aren't able to give interview feedback because of company policy but there are many who will provide you with a tip or two. It was against company policy at my last job which is the reason I started my job search blog to help job seekers in 2007.

I would suggest having a friend or working with your local university conduct a mock interview. Treat it as a regular interview and have someone record it via audio or video so you can listen back and rate yourself. Have your interviewer give you feedback on how you could improve and work on those things.

Preparation is really half of your interview. Having answers to questions prepared, visiting the company website, doing some research on your hiring manager or interviewer so you can ask them questions about what they like about the company, their job and so on.

Jessica

Hi Michael, I love your question. The answers is YES! or NO! depending how I interpret it.
YES it is a good idea to ask at the end of the interview if "your skills and experience that you've been discussing are a good fit for the open position" . This frames it in terms of qualifications and is a logical question - and the feedback might prove useful. NO, it is not a good idea to ask how your interviewing performance was. I think it is a great thought, but I also think that, unfortunately, you are best not to do this. Asking how you did in representing yourself well in an interview won't yield useful information for you for a few reasons: 1) it requires him to know more about you than he probably does to calibrate how you were able to represent your real skills , 2) if they have a positive view they'll say it and make you feel better - but that doesn't necessarily mean you get an offer since he might like others just as much too! 3) If they have a negative view of your performance they are highly unlikely to share it since we live in such a litigious world where they really have no upside in giving you critical feedback while potentially opening themselves up to criticism or legal woes. Its too bad really, I think it sounds awesome to get that feedback. Maybe we can figure out a way of doing it for you here at jobcase. Gonna go noodle on that a bit as I am about to jump on a plane. In the meantime, feel free to close interviews with asking their opinion about whether you are a fit for the role and what the next steps are in the process. Thanks for the great question and for being a part of our growing community! Fred

Hi Michael, I think that is something you could do when following up on the interview. A follow up call to see if you are being considered for the job could be helpful. If they let you know you are not being hired, I would suggest asking them at that time what their feedback might be. Does anyone else have any thoughts?