To expect helpful, genuine feedback after an interview

[desperatenotstupid]

I have just been for a job interview and didn't get the job. Thems the breaks, i'm disappointed but hey.

What i am angry about is the feedback - I applied for the job, it turned out to be via a recruitment agent. Something didnt feel right from the begining, firstly she told me i was the top candidate on paper and that there was only one other interviewee being put forward. Also, she said they were the sole recruitment agency. When she gave me the job spec it didnt match the job description that i applied for, it was very technical and in something ihave no experience in - she told me to ignore that. Whilst researching pre interview i found the same job advertised in december by a different agency but with a more accurate job description, one that i would not have applied for based on my background.

Was advised to buy a suit for the interview, so borrowed money to do this thinking i had a fair crack at the whip at least 50:50 chance.

The interview went well i thought, and i asked about not having the exact experience and he said it was fine they could train me up and expected that i wouldn't have any problems learnin the job etc. I asked for feedback druing the interview (on the agents advice) and was told I was technically sound but they were concerned as i had been a SAHM for some time . They also said they had interviewed a lot of candidates, all day, funny i thought i was one of two!

The feedback i received from the agent today was that they were really impressed with me and that i interviewed well but felt my technical background wasnt what they were looking for!!!

I tried to contact the HR woman today so that i could get REAL feedback not someone telling me what i want to hear and have just had the agency woman on the phone rather than the HR woman. I appreciate that she is busy but what would five minutes out of her day cost her to tell me the bloody truth. I need all the help i can get in the job market, but i feel that i have been put forward for a job i wasnt qualified for and this has cost me time and money and turned out to be a blind alley.

AM i being unreasonable??

Well, in a perfect world, no, but in reality, yes. People are jerks and recruitment agencies are evil.

Its how agencies work they don't care about you, only about filling jobs, Id complain to the manager of the Agency. And not all would be employers give feedback.

Yes, i have been told this before - i was giving them the benefit of the doubt out of desperation rather than supidity :(

Because of the recession, a lot of companies don't have the time/staff to provide feedback. It's shit, but that's life.

Fabby, thanks but she is the owner of the agency so i guess it will fall on deaf ears - just so

YABU companies use recruitment agencies so that the agents manage the candidates and give feedback etc rather than them.

Good luck with the job hunt and remember some recruitment agents need to be taken with a pinch of salt as their enthusiasm can go a bit too far!

yellow - thats a fair point, but i was told i would get feedback via the agent, but i KNOW that it is inaccurate. I feel that i have been lied too all along

My point is that the feedback i got from the agent was NOT the feedback that would have matched the interview. Maybe i am just stupid afterall to expect not to be treated like an idiot.

sorry meant to say YANBU to want fair feedback, but it will come through agent not the company HR woman

Agencies are scumbags. I worked for them for years and they are only about making money. Don't get too hung up on it, good luck with the job hunt.

I dont mind who the feedback comes from, and yes it is the agency womans job to pass on the feedback, errr so feedback the correct feedback, not a load of bullshit. Err, no, she didnt want to do that becuse it woud expose the fact that she misadvertised the job in the first place, sent me on a wild goose chase for a job i was never going to get.

oh and competency based interviews - what a crock of shit, thats going to rule anyone out without a recent job to provide an example of when you were so brilliant!!

Ohhh, that feels better.

I would just forget about it - they all sound like a bunch of twats!
Doesn't surprise me though - I spent the last year desperately searching for a job (first time I'd applied for jobs in approx 7 years) and I was astounded about how little feedback I got from anybody!
I had to constantly chase for feedback after several interviews and even then I got the standard 'sorry you have not been successful' generic feedback with nothing personal.

I am still raging about one particular company that I interviewed with in July 2011 (Well known pushchair brand company funnily enough! ) - the CEO of the company offered me the job via a Skype interview after a face to face interview.
Fast forward to present day and despite me chasing CEO, HR and other managers within the company - they have still never been able to give me straight answer about what is happening with the job!
(obviously know it is not an option now) but why the fuck would you offer someone a job and never come back to them after that?
All they had to do was say no, you are not suitable but to never give me a straight answer just seems so rude and unprofessional! wankers!

Grrr makes me so mad - that job would have changed my life and I am unlikely to ever be offered an opportunity like that again!

chalk it up to experience and try and avoid agencies etc in future - just apply for jobs directly.

thats just the thing Mrs, it is virtually impossibe to find jobs that are not advertised by agencies - unless im looking in the wrong places.

Bloody patronising cow said to me "well you haven't been in the work place for a long time have you, its a very big step" yeah, no shit sherlock!!!

YANBU to be angry with the agency but YABU to expect the HR person to call you back and personally give you feedback.

Have decided to compain in writing, stating that i felt that i was misled by the recruitment agent - listing all the discrepancies. But then saying that, if they want to employ a two bit agent who bullshits their potential employeers, im not sure they are a company i would want to work for and they can stew in their own shiteness. THAT was why i was wanting to speak to the woman.

Oh that would have helped

thats emloyee, not some sort of hybrid employer agent mix up

What would catgirl? pointing out to them that i think their agent is doing them a dis-service by sending inappropriate candidates for positions they are not qualified to do and mis representing the job. I would have thought that would have been appreciated actually.

There are some good agencies/recruiters and some awful ones.
My advice would be not to alienate anyone no matter how frustrating and if you are going to give feedback , make it calm and constructive and not emotional.

The reason why many firms/agencies can't or won't give feedback is because they are worried about done for discrimination or being called up on it, its much easier just to say, sorry there were other candidates that were better suited than tell you the real reason which may be harder to take.
Try and build a relationship with a good recruiter and ask them for honest feedback but without being defensive about it or they will just back off.

Good luck!

Not the way you phrased it first time round.

To be honest, unless the company has given exclusivity to the agency (which from your OP they haven't) or this is a recurring problem they won't be that bothered and it will come as no surprise to the HR department that the agency is only bothered about getting candidates in front of them and has no ethics. I

It works both ways - they usually lie to companies about the salary of employees to get them more as they get a % cut and they lie to job seekers about the roles.

Most of them advertise roles that dont even exist and they will say anything to both the employers and potential employees to get their candidates in to interviews.

OP i have worked in HR and recruitment for a while and all your letter would do is make you look disgruntled and confirm they were right not to employ you - sorry.

I know it's shit but you are supposed to take agencies with a pinch of salt really. Companies bullshit agencies just as much as agencies bullshit you, so how do you know that isn't the feedback they gave the agency? They could have not wanted you but just palmed the agency off saying that. They also could have lied about the technical issues to your face rather than admit it was a sticking point.

Also, companies hire many agencies, they tell each one they are they only ones. So they could have only had 2 candidates from your agency and still been interviewing all day - they also could have had internal candidates.

Good luck with the job hunt.

Yeah spuddy, you are right - i just wish i had listened to my gut instinct in the first place and not wasted money i cant afford for a suit. seems like a ridiculous way to recruit - what i find really funny is when i get those job email alerts that are mostly advertising jobs as recruitment consultants - I rather wish they would make like snakes and eat their own tails

well you still have the suit for your next interview, which you will be better prepared for thanks to this experience :)

I have had some shockers in my time, cost fortunes, travelled, work put into presentations for interviews which didn't exist etc. I once had an interviewer insult me so much i actually thought they were starting a fight!

try not to take it personally.

A decent agency wouldnt send someone unqualified for a job. The commission is the jam on the bread and butter of a recruiters salary - and he would not waste time sending someone on the off chance. X hours worth of phone calls setting you up, then placating you stops him making X hours worth of productive phone calls.