Is it appropriate to ask the interviewer for feedback on my interview performance? [duplicate]

Question

I have been giving a lot of interviews and have not been able to perform well. Could I ask the next interviewer for feedback on my performance, such as things I need to improve on? If yes, what would be the right way to do that?

Answer 1

Asking the interviewer to take time out of their lives to give you feedback is a proposition with iffy chances of success. I have to say that I lucked out when I interviewed with a fellow who turned out to be one of the top five Devops experts in NYC. The technical interview was a complete bust for me but he was touched and impressed that I had the guts to ask him what I needed to know in order to be successful as a Devops. He actually spent more time going over that than in actually interviewing me :) I carry the lessons he taught me that day with me every single day.

No, it doesn't hurt to ask. But if you know you busted it, you are best off asking right away rather than ask a few days later, when your interviewer's mind is focused on other viable candidates or on the next stage interviews. Look at this way, the prospective candidates could be part of the firm's future. As far as the interviewer is concerned, your failed candidacy is part of a past that's dead and gone. And your asking a few days later the interviewer what went wrong is like you being a revenant in a bad zombie movie - You wait two weeks before you ask and it's a miracle if the interviewer remembers that you at one time existed :)

Frankly, you are better off asking at the interview what it takes to be successful at the position offered in the firm than what you did wrong. Knowing what it takes to be successful in that position will enable you to figure out on you own where you went short anyway. And asking where you went wrong rightly or wrongly creates the impression that lack confidence in your abilities. No matter how badly you screw up, never doubt yourself :) Fix what you need to fix, learn what you need to learn, do what you need to do but never doubt yourself.

And when you ask for feedback, be genuine, earnest and sincere about it. Ideally, you'll connect with the interviewer on a personal level and you'll get the feedback you need. In my case, my earnestness and sincerity connected with the Devops expert's passion for what he was doing - The feedback that I got from the Devops expert was priceless.

Answer 2

Ask the following question at the end of the interview:

What skills should I focus on to succeed in this role?

This doesn't make you sound desperate or lacking confidence, and you might even get a somewhat useful answer.

Don't lose heart at being rejected in an interview. It just means the interviewer considers you not fit for that job, not necessarily that you are lacking anything.

Answer 3

Yes, you can ask, as a final question.

It is pretty common that a recruiter asks at the end : "Do you have any question for me ?".
Kindly ask him whether he would agree to give you a feedback, at the end of this round of the interview processes. Explain to him that, as an individual motivated by self-improvement, any kind of feedback is precious to you. Do not press him to get the feedback right now, just say you would be happy to have it at some point.

Answer 4

You can ask them anything you want. But don't expect much of an answer. If I was the interviewer I would just say you did fine and I'll get back to you. Because I'm not there to answer your questions like that and I probably have a bunch of other people to interview and you're wasting my time.

It would not give me a good impression of your ability if you need to ask people you barely know such questions, it seems to indicate low self-confidence and lack of preparation.

Everyone has to learn, but you don't ask the interviewer, you practice and prepare before the interview. The interviewer is not your friend, colleague or family... he/she has a professional interest in NOT giving out information. They're trying to evaluate you on a very limited timeframe and set of information, don't give them anything that could work against you.