What does this job interview feedback mean?

How to translate job interview feedback…

Often job interview feedback is not as it seems.

I know I don’t need to tell you this, if you’ve come across this post.

So I thought I’d explore this feedback puzzle I received from a blog reader that would make interesting reading for anyone wanting to move from a government role into a job in the private sector.

John, my emailer, was told after an interview that the employer was concerned about the length of time he had been in government, even though the vast majority of his experience has been in the private sector.

For any recruiters out there, reading this blog, I’d love your take on this feedback….

Here’s the weird job interview feedback.

Hi Karalyn

I’m presently employed in government.

I was approached by a Tier 1 IT multi-national non-government IT organisation for a high profile role. I progressed through hour long first and subsequent hour long second interviews with the T1 corporation without issues.

I then had a 15 minute face to face with the T1 client I would be working with and was told this was a “rubber stamp” process to securing the role. In that third interview I was constantly asked about the pressure situation that I would have in a government role in comparison to the client (a financial institution).

I felt I addressed the questions and concerns leaving no doubt about my capability to handle the pressure of the role. I learned 30 minutes later that I was unsuccessful because they felt my term, not my current role, with government would not prepare me to handle the pressure of this role. I have only been with this government role for 3.5 years. The remainder of my 30 years has been predominately with non government.

This isn’t the first time this has happened to me. I was wondering have you had people approach you on this and if so what are some of the successes to overcome these challenges?

John

Here’s what this feedback could mean.

Hi John,

There could be a few things going on here. The first thing to remember is that hiring someone is risky and expensive.

So sometimes people are looking for ways to eliminate you rather than make you fit. If you are not the perfect match, some re-shuffling may be required.

Change means effort.

People, and myself included, often struggle to look past the last five years or so on your resume. So 3.5 years is a significant chunk of that.

As a recruiter I would look at all your experience and say: “why move into government?”

Because often these roles are seen as slightly, if not completely “cushy”.

That’s not always true, but that is the perception. You may be being seen as someone who could not handle the pressure of a private sector role. Therefore you chose a government role.

It is interesting that you are coming across this in IT, though.

I would have thought that the challenges of an IT role, given technology and the way it is set up would be fairly similar in both the public and private sectors.

Saying that, plus the fact that you have moved so far through the hiring process, and the fact that this has happened a few times, leads me to think that something about your demeanor or the way that you answer questions around pressure, is letting you down.

I would say that if the only real focus of your final 15 minute interview was around pressure, then this is the last concern the organisation needed to tick off about you, when everything else seemed to fit OK.

That may have been the nagging concern of everyone in the hiring process to that point.

The conversations around the recruitment table could have been:

“We like John, but we’re not too sure of his performance under pressure?, Why has he moved to government?, Let’s get him in for a final interview and see how he’d cope?” Often at this point the person whom you’ll be reporting to just says “send them in, I’ll sort them out.”

Enter you.

I think whoever gave you the feedback that it is the length of your employment, is being honest, but you do need to unpack what that means.

When people reject you for a role, they can often give you a factual reason that you cannot dispute, rather than getting to the heart of the issue.

It’s easier to do particularly if they cannot really articulate a gut feel concern.

Go back to the person who said that and see if they can give you more detail around what “term” means. I would put it back to the recruiter and say “were they concerned about my ability to cope with pressure, as that was the focus of the interview?”

See what comes from that conversation.

Regardless of the feedback, the best way to prepare for any interview is to try to get a really strong sense of the challenges and pressures associated with the job. You have to join the dots for people. So try to find out what kind of “pressures” you would face in any advertised role.

Good questions to ask are “What are the expectations, three, six and twelve months out?”, “What are the challenges of this role?”, “What did the incumbent find challenging?”, “Why did they leave?”

That way in interview, you can confidently relate examples of where you have experienced similar challenges or pressures.

You could also sit down with a professional, or someone who will give you some honest feedback and ask how you come across.

Do you look like you have the right energy for the role? Have you given relevant examples? Do you actually look and sound like you can cope when the “silicon” chips are down, so to speak!

Hope this helps in some way.

Karalyn

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