Should you I ask for feedback after a rejection?

Hi there, 

Always, always ask for feedback. 

In 90% of cases you won't receive it, but it's still worth doing it because of those few instances when you will. Feedback is perhaps the most important thing in your personal growth journey. Getting the advice of somebody with more experience and seniority on what what you need to do to improve and how is truly a gift.

So do call your interviewer and try to squeeze as much as you can out of the call. Don't be absent and whenever you don't understand something, ask follow-up questions. 

Best,

Cristian

Hi there, 

It's a no-regret move to reach out and arrange a call, so my recommendation would be to do it.

In general, good feedback is pure gold for anyone's career development. Whether you'll get it from the interviewer is a different question. 

• Best case: You'll get actionable feedback, which consultants are usually very good at providing. If the interviewer has a caring personality, he/she might be able to give you some valuable career advice - general or consulting-specific (including how to try again at the same firm)
• Worst case: The interviewer is going to waste 30 min of your time - that's it

Hope you'll get something out of it! 

Best of luck!

Moritz

Yes, you should ask for it.

You may lose 10 mins of your time. Or you may get useful feedback that may get you a job offer later on. Or provide you with a contact that you may be able to use in the future if you decide to apply again.

I understand the high likelihood of being a waste of time. But if there's just a 10% chance of getting useful feedback it's actually worth a ton of money.

You may think it is an uncomfortable situation (to have that call). I understand, I'be been in your shoes. But also having these kind of calls is very important for your professional development and to become more at easy in when dealing with interviews and “cold calls”. Doing things like this is very helpful to expand your comfort zone.

In short: do it!

Hello,

Yes, you should absolutely take the call. You probably already know what your mistakes/weak areas are - but its important to understand what was the deal breaker from the interviewer's perspective. 

I actually did this with a partner at BCG and asked very tactical questions to help improve my preparation for the next cycle - and it did help :)

All the best!

Rushabh

In 90% of the cases, it is just a waste of time. 
Because they will have to sugar-coat the message to you.
They will likely remark that your structuring wasn't good enough or that your math was shaky.
You can imagine those things by yourself.
My suggestion is to keep this meeting just to show that you are humble and you want to learn, but to improve, in particular after rejection, the only practical thing you should do is to book 3-4 sessions with coaches.

Hi there,

Take the call!

The cost is literally just some of your time. The possible benefit is 1) Learning where you need to improve for next time 2) Establishing more of a relationship with the firm/partner.

Next time, get a coach - why leave things up to chance!

YES! Feedback is the best way to improve your performance and learn from your mistakes.

Always always ask for honest feedback. When receiving feedback do not question or justify your performance at all. Instead listen to what is being said and absorb it without judgment. Often our impulse is to counter what is being said which makes giving and receiving feedback painful.

The better you are at receiving feedback the better the quality of feedback you will receive.

Udayan

Do it because it doesn't cost you anything and you might find some useful tidbits in there that could help you for your further recruiting process. 

But don't expect super detailed feedback - firms stay intentionally vague and high-level to protect themselves.

In any case, you have nothing to lose so worth following up

Hi there,

Sorry to hear about the rejection. In terms of your question:

Q: In the rejection email, they gave me one of the interviewer’s email and said I can reach out to ask for a feedback call. Is this usually worth it?

Most of the time the feedback won’t be very helpful. However, I would still take the call because they may reveal possible improvements you have not thought about.

Best,

Francesco

Hey,

I would definitely take the call. Actually, if you have specific questions in mind, that would make the conversation more personalized rather than receiving standard high-level feedback.

Feedback after rejection may be useful not only for the upcoming interview cycles but also for changing your mindset about business in general if you can keep the conversation personalized enough.

All the best!

Emre

Hi there,

First of all, I am so sorry to hear about the rejection!

This is indeed an interesting question which is probably relevant for a lot of users, thus I am happy to provide my perspective on it:

• It can be beneficial to reach out to the interviewer who provided their email and request a feedback call after being rejected from a job. While it's not always possible to get detailed feedback, it can be helpful to hear the interviewer's perspective and learn more about the reasons for the rejection. This can provide valuable insight and help you improve your interview performance for future opportunities.
• It's important to approach the feedback call in a professional and gracious manner. Thank the interviewer for their time and ask specific, focused questions about the interview process and your performance. Avoid being defensive or blaming the interviewer, and focus on learning from the experience and improving for the future.
• Overall, whether or not to request a feedback call after a rejection is a personal decision, and it ultimately depends on your goals and priorities. If you are interested in learning more about the reasons for the rejection and improving your interview performance, it may be worth reaching out to the interviewer and requesting a feedback call. However, if you are not interested in pursuing this option, it's perfectly fine to move on and focus on other opportunities.

In case you want a more detailed discussion on what to do in your specific situation, please feel free to contact me directly.

Best,

Hagen