First, as this is a “buyer’s” market, hiring managers have been able to take their wish list of candidate skills and attributes to the extreme. You don’t have one of the items on the list?? Next!!

Second, as everyone’s job is at risk in this economy, hiring managers would rather error on the side of being over cautious. Rather than taking a (perceived) risk on a candidate whose skills and accomplishments are transferable and translate into a success in the stated role, it is safer to find an exact match and to provide material for CYA!

Last, I have found that experience and accomplishments only matters if your interviewer is in the same generation as you. No one will openly talk about their propensity for age discrimination.

Yes – asking for feedback in and of itself is a sign that you are interested in improving and learning. A lot of people are afraid to ask – when you do ask, it can only help!

All the other candidates don’t know about him, like the hidden job market, there are the hidden candidates too!

Simon at VirtualjobCoach.com

Simon Clay Michael’s last blog post..Job search stalled? 10 signs and how to kick re-start your job search.

Joe – That is an excellent point. To complicate matters, job seekers who receive benign feedback such as your suggestion, ‘someone else was a better fit,” should still think long and hard about the interview and all of their interactions with the employer. It is very possible that there was a “fatal flaw” mistake, but no one will mention it. It would be nice if we didn’t have such a litigious society that contributes to employers’ fears of sharing honest feedback. It really puts the onus on the job seeker to seek some unbiased and well informed feedback. Dare I say a job search coach could help? 🙂

Thanks so much for adding to the conversation!

Erin – Thanks for stopping by!

I do have an observation to offer as I am both a hiring authority and I own a recruiting/sourcing company. To make things even more complex for job seekers, employers don’t often tell you the real reason that “you didn’t get the job”.

This is for many of the same reasons that employers don’t provide candid feedback to their own employees. Employers would much rather tell you that they “found someone that was a better fit” than “you alienated the hiring manager in your interview when you criticized a company for which you both used to work” or “you reinforced our fears that arose when we found all the drunken pictures/captions on Facebook with your repeated questions about whether there were company sponsored happy hours”.

The truth may hurt the job seeker, but it would be WAY more valuable.

Best wishes and always Act As If It Were Impossible to Fail!
Joe Lavelle

Joe Lavelle’s last blog post..How To Bring Your Career to a Crashing Halt

You are so right… we are in control of our careers. Staying on top of things and being very active in your job search is key.

Great post.

Erin Kennedy, CPRW, CERW
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