They did not ask me back after my interview

What is the number one piece of feedback received from clients explaining why they are not progressing candidates?

A Turning up late 

B Fidgeting

C Talking too much/too little

D Not answering the questions

E Not being "appropriately dressed"

None of the above.

You would  think it’s a no-brainer; get called in for an interview, look at the firm’s website, find out what they do, look at their product lines, who their key personnel are, what their  brand stands for, who their main competitors are, who they target. But no; 90% of negative feedback from potential employers focuses on candidates not having done their research on the firm that’s looking to hire them.

Hiring managers who use good recruitment agencies spend a great deal of time talking passionately about the company they work for, what’s good about them and their products, why their clients love them and firms invest a great deal of money on their online presence; finding out about them these days is not difficult.

Good recruitment agents communicate the passion they receive from hiring managers to their candidate short-list. Good recruitment agents know their clients and their business and their client’s competitors. Good recruitment agents relay all this to their candidates and show them where to go to find out more. Good candidates follow up on this.

I sat in front of a client and listened to them talking about their business and inside 5 minutes I was contemplating jacking in my recruitment business and going to work for them! Passion is what they have and they want people they hire to be as passionate about their business as they are.

Part of communicating passion and interest is knowing who you are talking to, what makes them tick, why they love what they do and finding symmetry.

One CEO I spoke to recently said “I would rather hire someone with passion and interest in my business and no experience than someone with all the experience and skill in the world, who ticked all our requirements boxes but did not show enough interest in us before the interview to bother to do any real research.”

Don't set yourself up to fail; researching a firm is neither hard nor time-consuming and it goes a long way. And if there's information you need and cannot find, ask your recruitment agent.