Why interviewers ask this
A lack of feedback is a common frustration, and this question checks whether you wait passively for direction or take initiative to get the information you need to improve. It reveals how self-directed you are, since candidates who need constant external validation to know how they are doing can be harder to manage in fast-moving environments. Interviewers are also curious whether you can ask for feedback in a way that gets a genuine, useful response rather than a vague reassurance.
How to structure a strong answer
Describe the situation where feedback was genuinely absent, being specific about how long it went on and what it felt like to be operating without it. Explain the concrete steps you took to solicit feedback proactively, such as asking specific rather than open-ended questions, requesting a recurring check-in, or seeking input from peers and stakeholders instead of only your manager. Close with what you learned once you did get feedback, and how that changed your work.
Example answer
My manager in my first analyst role was excellent technically but rarely gave feedback beyond a quick 'looks good' on my work, which left me genuinely unsure whether I was actually meeting expectations after about two months. Rather than assuming everything was fine, I started asking more specific questions instead of general ones, like whether my last report had the right level of detail for the audience it went to, rather than just asking how I was doing overall. That specificity got him talking in more detail, and I also asked two colleagues who reviewed similar work to give me quick reactions when they had time. Between those two sources I got a much clearer picture that my analysis was strong but my written summaries needed to be more concise for senior stakeholders, which I worked on directly and got positive feedback on within a few weeks.
Common mistakes to avoid
Avoid framing the story as a complaint about a bad manager, keep the tone focused on what you did about the gap rather than criticizing the person who left it. Do not describe simply waiting it out and hoping feedback would eventually come, that is the opposite of what the question is testing. Also avoid vague asks like 'how am I doing,' show that you learned to ask more specific, answerable questions.
Frequently asked questions
Before your next interview, it helps to have the fundamentals down. Our complete guide to preparing for a job interview covers the basics, and the STAR method is a reliable way to structure almost any answer under pressure.