Heather Eagar.com

Most people think constructive criticism is when people say both good and bad things about whatever it is they’re talking about. They may start out, “This is great, but…” You know how it goes.

So my question to you is: how do you handle constructive criticism during an interview? There are a couple of ways this could go. For example, the interviewer states, “You’re very well-qualified in all the necessary areas but you have minimal sales experience.” Your comeback? “While I might not have a lot of direct sales experience, I do have many years in marketing which has always worked right along side of sales in creating plans and objectives.”

But here is the key that a lot of job seekers might not think about: get special training, if necessary. If you’re job hunting and you’re finding a lot of jobs require a skill or certification you don’t have, find a training class for it. While you’re interviewing, when the subject comes up, you can inform them that you are in the process of acquiring that skill. That shows great initiative by you and employers love that.

So if you are faced with constructive criticism, use it to your advantage. Even if you lost out on that particular job, you now have an idea of what you may need to succeed in your job search.