Here’s an unfortunate truth: there’s a high chance you won’t get any sort of feedback from the hiring company regarding your performance in the interview.
If you are serious about landing a job, you’ve got to learn how to interview well. The only way to do that is by going to the interview and analyzing your performance.
There are two ways you can do this. First, look at the interview process to find out where you’re getting stuck. The next step is to improve that part.
Unfortunately, most professionals don’t do this at all.
Don’t Do This
Most professionals, after getting rejected and not progressing despite sending in dozens of applications, what the do is complain on social media.
They bash and say horrible things about company ABC because it’s their dream job and they are perfect for it but no one hasn’t invited them for an interview.
Then they turn to YouTube and TikTok and watch videos of influencers and gurus for tips on interviewing.
But anyone who studies the interviewing process or have an outstanding hiring process in their company will know that about 99% of the content out there plays on confirmation bias.
They are not ground on reality.
For example, hiring managers “should” read all resumes and the entire application, versus spending 7 seconds.
Nice to hear, but really, not grounded in reality. Hiring managers are already busy as is and interviewing candidates is in addition to their regular job.
If you’re a professional who’s not getting to the next step in the process, this is what you do.
Find Out Where You’re Getting Stuck
If you want to get your dream job, you have to apply a systematic method for analyzing what went well and what didn’t.
From the hiring company’s perspective, a typical interview process might look like this:
- Resume screening / review applications
- Phone interview
- Written test (or certification, or a coding project for technical skills)
- Face-to-face interview
- Job offer
Let’s say you always get to the final (face-to-face) interview, but don’t get an offer. This happened to you five times already in the last month.
That means from the moment you sent in your application to exams, you’re doing great. But you always fail in the face-to-face interviews. This is where you start analyzing what went well and what didn’t.
A good place to start is to always remember that it doesn’t matter how good you are. What matters is whether or not the interviewer knows this.
Use this thinking for every stage in order to improve.
On the other hand, if you keep striking out the moment you submit your application and resume, that means there’s something wrong with it.
Here’s a great place to start if you are stuck in the resume stage.
Understand the Purpose of Each Stage
Interviews are an artificial process designed by companies to keep people out.
This means that every single step acts as a filter to reduce the applicants.
Think of it as your typical sales funnel.
- A lot of prospects at the top
- As they progress down, some of them aren’t a fit or simply can’t afford the product
- Then towards the bottom, only a few become customers
This is the same thing with the interview process. The actual steps will be different for every company, but you still go through the same funnel.
For a single job post:
- 250 applications
- 75 pre-screened
- 34 pass the test
- 11 got phone interviewed
- 6 went on for face-to-face interview
- 1 got the job
When it comes to analyzing your performance, remember that your goal as an applicant for every step is to reach the next step.
That’s it.
When you submit your resume, your goal isn’t to “get the job.” Your goal is to get to the next stage, whatever that may be. In most cases, that’s getting invited to the actual interview.
For example, you used a job portal to submit your application (e.g. Indeed or Monster), if you aren’t getting shortlisted or contacted for the next step, then there’s something seriously wrong with your application—in most cases, that’s your resume.
Remember, the interview has already begun. The moment you submitted your application, you’re in the company’s hiring process. That means applicants are being evaluated already.
Don’t Keep Making the Same Mistakes
Since you don’t get feedback from interviewers, the only way to improve is to know what you’re doing wrong.
Here are the most common interviewing mistakes every professional makes. If you do make it to the interview, these articles are a great resource to help you improve drastically.
What Companies Are Really Looking For
Lastly, always keep in mind that companies look for two things in their candidates:
- Can you do the job?
- Can you do it well?
Go through that article to dive deeper into the topic. But the bottom line is that companies are evaluating you across those two criteria at every stage.
If you don’t communicate and demonstrate that during that stages, don’t blame the company or the interviewer. Blame yourself. Blame that guru you’re following.
It doesn’t matter whether you’re qualified or have the experience or even have outstanding results. It doesn’t matter whether you are an expert in that field. It doesn’t matter that you worked 10 years in the industry either.
What matters is what the interviewer thinks.
If the interviewer isn’t convinced that you can do the job and do it well, you will not get the job offer.
It doesn’t even matter how much you both liked each other during the interview process. It doesn’t matter that you both play golf during weekends or that you “connected” with each other.
Ll they care about is answering those two questions: can you do the job and can you do it well.
That is how you systematically analyze your performance during the interviews.
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