1. Do Call To Get Feedback

The vast majority of organisations will provide interviewees with a specific timescale within which they will provide you with feedback. Generally this will be indicated after your interview. If you have not heard from the organisation within their timescale call them and ask for some feedback. The key is persistence when getting feedback but is important that this is not interpreted as harassment, so to avoid this keep calling every 3-4 days. This will allow sufficient time in between calls until you receive an answer. Employers like enthusiasm and eagerness. Tip: During interview get the name of the hiring manager who interviewed you and a direct dial number and check out that it's okay to call them to get feedback if you haven’t heard from them. Do not be fobbed off with Human Resource staff numbers as they are unlikely to return you call.

2. Do Be Polite But Assertive

When you follow up your interview for feedback, ensure that you present an image that is positive, pleasant but assertive. Keep the conversation light but explain to the hiring manager that you are considering offers from other organisations and are keen to find out the outcome of this interview as it was your favourite role. The majority of organisations will be eager to make an appointment and if they are convinced that you are the right applicant, the thought of losing you elsewhere will spur even the most laborious recruitment process into action. If you are not the right applicant then this approach will at least guarantee that you know that as soon as possible and you can get on with concentrating on other avenues.

Whether you get the job or not after receiving feedback, ensure that you thank the hiring manager for the interview. It is important to remember that other applicants who have been offered the position may yet decline it and if a prospective employer observes that you have remained positive and professional even after initially being turned down, they are likely to be contacting you next. I am aware of a number of number of applicants who have adopted this approach and the companies concerned have been so impressed that they called them back having created another role for them!

4. Ask For Feedback On How You Came Across In Interview If You Don't Get The Job

Whilst it is always disappointing to not get a job that you apply for it is even more important to understand why. It could be for a reason outside of your control or it could be that the prospective employer may identify something you had not thought of as a problem, perhaps about your presentation or listening skills or something else. You can then use this information to improve next time.

5. Do Speak To The Decision Maker

Whilst Human Resource departments are often responsible for dealing with interviews and providing feedback they frequently fail to fully understand your potential value to an organisation. This often results in you receiving a bland standard response when asking for feedback and you may be asked to call back in a few weeks. In reality it is the hiring manager who has the final decision on who to recruit so contact them directly or in addition to the human resource department. Hiring managers are very useful at speeding up feedback if you keep them informed of developments and are the individuals who know your true value and importance to the organisation.

Don't

1. Don't Harass The Organisation

Whilst it is important that you politely contact your prospective employer on a frequent basis, it is important that this does not border on harassment. Calling every 3-4 days is not a problem for most organisations but any more frequently and you will become a nuisance and staff will stop taking your call.

2. Don't Be Rude Or Offensive

It can be upsetting to learn that you have not been successful in your application to an organisation but your response in this instance should be mature and professional. If for some reason you did not get the job or don’t agree with the feedback you should never be rude or offensive to an organisation. You never know when you may need to interact with them again in the future and remember that they may still come back and offer you a post in the future.

3. Don't Lie About Other Job Offers

It is critical that you are truthful with prospective employers after interview when trying to obtain feedback. You should never lie about job offers and use this as a means to gain faster feedback or it may backfire upon you. I know a number of individual who have lost the possibility of employment with an organisation because they tried to bluff and the employer simply told them that if they were that concerned with taking an offer from another company then they should go and do it. It is a difficult balancing act but hopefully some of these job interview follow up dos and don’ts will enable you to feel a little more confident when chasing up that al important interview feedback.

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