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[Al]

Hi--

I interviewed at a school a month ago and felt like the interview went very well.  I recently learned that the school made an offer to someone else, however.  I'm curious as to what influenced their choice. I have another interview in a few weeks and want to avoid making any mistakes (if, in fact, I did before).  Is it appropriate to ask the search committee for feedback, and if so, what's the best approach? (The department where I was interviewed is very small and I felt as if I developed a good repoire with them.)  

Thanks, Al

[Diogenes]

This was a topic on a former thread about a year ago entited "feedback on rejection"  Check here:

http://chronicle.com/forums/careernetwork/read.php?f=2&i=912&t=912

[Al]

Dear Diogenes--

Thanks for your response and pointing me to a previous thread.  I think my question is a bit different, however.  I would never ask for feedback on why I didn't make a short list, when it was between me and potentially hundreds of other people.  In this case, I have already interviewed at this school and spent 2 days there meeting and talking to people and developing somewhat of a relationship with them.  I feel like this changes things a bit and maybe they could give me advice that would be useful for my next interview, but maybe not......any other advice?

Thanks, Al

[Search Committee Member]

Almost always, in my experience, at least two out of the three candidates we bring to campus would be fine hires, and sometimes all three of them. One will be a bit weaker in the talk, one will (according to the graduate students who meet privately with candidates) seem "stuffy," one will have not been as sharp as we like when answering intellectual questions in the meeting with the people in the same field. Indeed, I don't remember any "perfect" candidate in my more than 20 years of serving on committees, though many of them have become fine colleagues. The answer to "why didn't I get the job" is, most of the time "our gut response to how you'll fit in the department, who's retiring soon from whom you could pick up part of the slack, and our best guess about whether you'll stick around or be looking for another job year after next." None of these are things you can fix before the next interview. And frankly, I'd be anxious answering your question; I'd feel as if I were being asked to defend our choice and might have a hard time keeping the conversation pleasant. Indeed, if the decision was at all contentious -- half of the committee pulling hard for you and half for the other candidate -- it would be very difficult to have the conversation at all without revealing things that should not be said.

[Enigma]

There is another way you may ask for feedback without risking the stepping on toes and making the search committee members uncomfortable.

During my first year interviewing, I similarly had a pleasant interview and the committee and everyone I met appeared very enthusiastic. When I did not get an offer, I wanted to learn why (so that I could similarly improve on future interviews). My advisor at the time offered to call and inquire for 'Professional Development/suggested improvement', etc. I did receive information that I then used for future interviews - and I do think the committee member gave an honest response (I was aware of reactions to comments when I interviewed - and I was aware at the time that they were worried about a particular response - which was exactly what they mentioned with the follow up info).

With a few future interviews, you may run across committee members who may even offer to provide you with more info (very exceptional and rare but it happens) - you may want to follow up with that when that opportunity presents itself.

Best of luck.

[Pippin]

I think you may find some departments very hesitant to provide you with this kind of information, for fear it could be actionable. Sometimes rejected candidates sue.

[another committee member]

sometimes your advisor can ask for you-- depending on who he or she knows and how well she or he knows them

[Anon]

I don't know how helpful this information will be. It is quite possible that you didn't make any mistakes. There are so many top candidates that it's possible that another person just seemed a better fit - who knows. You don't want to look whiney about not getting the job, so unless you have really good reason to suspect that they will give you concrete ways to improve, I would skip it.

[Thaddeus]

Asking for feedback?  That might make sense if you thought you were likely to get a stariaght answer.  But if you believe that, you really have a lot to learn about academia.  The head of the search committee will NEVER give you a straight answer because you might make things unpleasant.  Smae for the department chair.  You MIGHT get something from the one faculty member with whom you best connected, but he or she really would be breaking the rules by telling you much.

As someone who has been a candidate for on-campus interviews seventeen times (with eight offers) and has served on seven hiring committees, I can tell you this: it is not a rational process.  There is almost never a reason to take rejection personally.  The reasons faculty favor one candidate over another are often unconscious, political (in the smallest and saddest ways), payback for previous slights by a colleague, and a candidate's stepping on a mine that was absolutely invisible and irrelevant.

You can take comfort in knowing that rejection doesn't mean something bad about you but try to remember the obverse when you get an offer and don't cop an attitue that you are a natural winner.

[tried that]

I asked for feedback after my first interview and was given a little bit of advice. The important thing is to ask not "why did you make this decision" but "how can I improve." I did it just when I received the call about not being their choice.

One thing to remember though is that what one school finds important another one may think completely irrelevant or even a negative. So even if you get some feedback, it would not necessarily be helpful for your next interview.

[deb]

I sat on a hiring committee as a graduate student and have to agree that the whole situation is too fraught to expect honest or useful feedback.

These people are choosing someone that they have to face in every faculty meeting until they retire or change jobs. You are coming from an unbalanced position of having what they want. It's more like dating than the rational world you describe, in which you can do better next time. Fit is incredibly mysterious.

If I got feedback from an interviewer, I would probably take the advice given in one situation and apply it too forcefully in the next. This would make me look like an overcompensating weirdo, uncomfortable and not like myself. And that would surely go over like a lead balloon. Instead of asking for feedback, do something nice for yourself that will make you feel very secure. This will not make everyone love you next time (that's impossible), but it will remind you that the only way to fail is to be a people-pleaser.

(this is advice I am trying desperately to follow myself...)