Why a good consultant always works through interview feedback with you

Why a good consultant always works through interview feedback with you

Interviews don’t end when the call finishes or the meeting room empties, they end when you understand what happened and feel better prepared for the next one.

It isn't always possible for a consultant to get detailed interview feedback from a process. Often the decision of yes or no can be fed back through someone that wasn't involved in the interview itself and so some details are lost through that 3rd degree separation. But even then, a good consultant will still help you interpret what’s available by piecing together patterns, spot the likely takeaways and use whatever feedback there is to sharpen your approach for next time.

Here’s what that looks like in practice:

• We’ll separate technique from fit. Was an answer unclear, or was the panel simply looking for a different emphasis for that particular vacancy?
• We’ll point out specific examples you can reuse or tighten next time, whether that's phrasing, evidence, structure.
• We’ll flag any obvious faux-pas so you can avoid them again and we’ll be honest if something was jarring.
• We’ll explore the messy middle. Many pieces of feedback aren’t black or white; often they mean “not what was required here,” not “wrong in principle.”
• We’ll role-play or coach through alternative answers so you leave feeling more confident and more focused.

The uncomfortable truth however is that all interviews are judgment calls. They are snapshot of how your experience maps to that one role, at that one moment. That makes them an imperfect science: sometimes nuance, timing, or unconscious bias shifts the outcome. (Bias is worth talking about, but it’s a different conversation for a different time.)

In the meantime, remember this: it’s a tough market, but one “no” doesn’t mean the next is a “no.” Use honest, structured feedback to fine-tune your thinking and I've always rolled out a cliche that even the 'worst' interview will have elements within it that you can use for next time, but I genuinely think that is set in truth. Working through feedback in this way will give you sharper answers, clearer examples and, when the right role comes around, more chance of the outcome you want.