KNOWLEDGE IS POWER SO WHY STOP LEARNING?

Chris Kell 28th August 2008
Chris Kell

Recently we decided to expand our account management team and advertised on various job websites. Obviously this led to the inevitable 1,000 calls from recruitment consultants all telling me they had the best candidates, despite the fact the advert stated Strictly no recruitment agents...

Anyway, that moan aside, we received a large amount of CV's and whittled this down to about 7 or 8 for interview. Following these interviews, most were immediate no's for one reason or another so I contacted them via email to thank them for their interest and wish them the best of luck. Interestingly, not one of these people emailed or called me to ask for any feedback on WHY they were unsuccessful. Busy though I am, I would have happily provided this feedback and explained, for example in one case, that saying the job appeals because you're looking for an easy life really doesn't sell you very well.

Inquisitive by nature I have always asked for feedback if unsuccessful, from interviews throughout my career, to pitching on website projects. Why walk away not even understanding the decision making process? I find it astounding that so many are happy to go away and make the same mistakes again rather than asking a few simple questions to understand where they went wrong. If I don't win a website project, I want to know why so that next time, I'm even better prepared.

In the same way, six months ago we started sending out customer comment cards with all invoices. Who better to tell you how you're doing than your customers? Many clients have taken the time to complete and send back the form and we learn from this feedback. Good feedback confirms where our main strengths are, poor feedback gives us a welcome kick to make changes or improve in certain areas so that next time, that feedback is good too.

Moving offices this week means that the reply cards we haven't used will be sent for recycling but rest assured, this is something we'll continue to do once we have our new stationery printed - why stop learning?

Notes and Queries...

I totally agree with this Chris. Feedback from interviewers is vital as you are being evaluated by someone who is completely objective and can therefore provide you with an honest, unbiased response.

Leana 28th August 2008
 
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