job etiquette

[Techicolors]

is it appropriate to ask your employer/interviewer why you didn't get the job? or put it less bluntly, ask for feedback? 

[Yoinkerman]

Promotion wise?  Yes but not immediately, wait a few weeks.

[Techicolors]

2 minutes ago, Yoinkerman said:

Promotion wise?  Yes but not immediately, wait a few weeks.

no promotion, first time at company 

[Yoinkerman]

Then for sure 

[dizmo]

What have you got to lose? Chances are there are just more qualified people applying.

[dalekphalm]

2 hours ago, Technicolors said:

is it appropriate to ask your employer/interviewer why you didn't get the job? or put it less bluntly, ask for feedback? 

If you are not employed by them, and they chose someone else over you in an interview, yes, I would definitely ask why they made the choice they did.

 

Depending on how much detail they go into, I would make a followup question about what you can do to be better qualified for the position in the future (Eg: what can you improve or do differently).

 

If you are employed by the company already, and you didn't get a promotion or transfer or something, I would be a little more delicate, give it a week or so, and then ask for feedback.

 

In both cases, hell yes, ask for feedback.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Definitely ask for feedback but do not so so in a confrontational manner. You are more likley to get an honest answer (don't count on it, though). Approach them in a manner that will make them think you are wanting to know so you can improve yourself for next time. Ask questions like:

 

What skills would I have needed to have been selected instead? Or, what skills was I lacking?

 

What experience did I need? Or, what experience was I lacking?

 

If you are confrontational, the prospective employer may just reply in generalities that will protect the empolyer from possible lawsuit and will tell you noting particularly useful, if at all usefull

[Froody129]

Do it in a way that seems you want to improve for next time, they might remember it and consider you for future jobs. 

 

The other guys probably had more letters after their name, but showing you're there to do a job and want to improve yourself is going to win out over that 

[davrosG5]

By all means ask for feedback but don't expect to get much more than a canned 'another candidate was a better fit' answer. Most employers will not spend the resoruces on helping out a candidate they've already rejected.

If you're in the EU you could make a subject access request for their interview notes under the GDPR - worth doing if you think you were actively discriminated against for some reason but bear in mind that doing so would sort of be a bridge burning type thing to do.