I have just been rejected by my first choice firm after having undergone a partner interview which I felt went really well! I asked for feedback and here is the result:"We feel that you displayed an unfortunate and lazy reliance upon unimaginative and tired business-speak. In particular, the use and repetition of phrases/words such as "take it to the next level", "going forwards" ("from now on" is a perfectly viable turn of phrase!) and "leverage" (it's a verb not a noun!) does not sit well with our corporate image."I feel rather miffed by this! What do you think?

Name and shame the firm!!

I thought that was rather harsh, even if that is what the partner thought at the time.I should also point out that 'leverage' is indeed very often used as a noun, and all dictionaries will confirm this!!!!!!!!!!! Maybe you should let them know this so that they don't make such errors in the future.Good luck with your application process.

Listen dont fret it - that sounds more of an HR opinion than that of a partner. I agree that you should name and shame the firm however - whilst your reliance on phrases such as 'take it to the next level' might not sit well with thier corporate image - the reply to your application certainly outlines thier internal culture. Ive been in the business for 18 years ( partner for 6) and I would NEVER answer this way to an interviewee - especially a graduate. Youre better off without them.

You are lucky to get feedback especially when it is so clear how to correct your "problem".During your career you will receive lots of rejections and generally will not get any feedback at all. The correct response to this is to be grateful and avoid the business speak in future.Whether it is good reason for rejecting a candidate or not is irrelevant.

I reckon you deserved it! This sort of awful business speak is becoming far too common. My personal pet hate is "going forwards" - here at accenture some people use it in virtually every sentence. What's wrong with "in the future"?I think we should all try harder to protect the english language from this rubbish - I wish there were more partners like the one who rejected you!By the way, I think he made a mistake with the feedback. "Leverage" is, of course, a noun. Always has been and always will be.

Forgot to say - please go ahead and "name and shame" this firm, I want to apply! Sounds like a breath of fresh air in an industry obsessed with corporate-speak

Here here Jonny! Busness speak is as harmful to the english language in educated professionals as text-speak is to the gutter snipes. It's american, it's rubbish. If anything it reduces your ability to articulate your point. I have an idea for future interviews though...MayB U cud try dis gr8 way ov spkng nxt tme in a intview innit!

Couldn't agree more....plain speech does it for me every time. If I hear "leverage" used as a verb once more, I'll slug someone ;-)

If I'm asked one more time to "reach out to" so-and-so when the speaker means "contact", I'm going to have to hit someone.

Quite. My personal favourite is "engage with". makes me think I have to go on bended knee and with a diamond ring. Why can't I just have a chat with them?

I reserve the most venom for: "cover off" in place of "look after" or "manage" and "piece" as in "i look after the outsourced operations piece".

How about the vomit inducing "let's take this offline"? What's wrong with "lets talk later"?Another favourite of mine is the continual insistence to refer to staff as "resources" - i.e. " we are getting two more resources next week" Wouldn't "people" do?!And to be honest, any form of "verbing the noun" makes me cringe...as in "this request has been actioned" aaargh!Frustrated rejectee - come and work for Accenture, you'd fit right in.

My personal favourite is "let's get traction on this" which translates as let's not leave the meeting and do f*$! all about this.

Let's take this one offline = we haven't the foggiest, let's pretend this never came up.

I can't stand the use of the word 'socialize' to mean 'put the message out'. Lazy, lazy language.That said, I did offer to 'take something offline' during a meeting today. The truth was I didn't have the foggiest how to respond to a question...

A-ha - if faced with a question that you do not wish/know how to answer the correct form of reply is to offer to 'park it for now' thus allowing you off the hook to continue with the main topic - also, the generalisation of 'for now' does not commit you to ever unparking (driving?!) the issue in future.Maybe this language is holding us back - let's all be honest in future. Can you imagine the shocked faces in your next meeting when you reply 'Sorry Dave, I haven't got a scooby-doo what you are talking about. I've always wondered what the letters S A P stood for anyway. Anyone got any ideas?' followed very quickly by 'Is that my taxi outside?....Taxi!'

Your feedback seems a bit harsh. However you should take it on the chin. Tell them that you appreciate their feedback, and that you hope to leverage it as an enabler to obtain buy-in, going forwards, next time you are invited to step up to the plate!

At least you got proper feedback. After 3 interviews including an all day assessment centre and a partner interview I was told I was not successful as 'I didn't have a relevant business degree'My CV clearly staes my degrees are in History... which makes me wonder what the real problem was that they didn't dare say!

Sounds very HR-ese. But it's good, usable feedback. Quite why they had to wait until a partner interview to give it, I don't know, and whether that would be enough to make me turn down a candidate that scores OK everywhere else I don't know either.

Thanks for your replies. It was BAS.

What rank/position were you after?!

Hi everyoneExcellent thread!I work in the public sector and think all that so called 'management speak' is great, in fact I'll be using them all next week...my boss will love it and I'll be promoted the week after.By the way, is there a management speak dictionary available? I don't just want to sit back and rest on my laurels.