reCareered: 10 Reasons You Didn’t Get The Job

Friday, June 22, 2007

10 Reasons You Didn’t Get The Job - Page 2

Also, you’ll notice that ageism isn’t on the list. When a candidate over 40 doesn’t get the job, the first thing they think is ageism. I’m not arguing about the existence of ageism - it exists, it stinks, and it’s a reality. However, ageism isn’t the reason you didn’t get the job.

You can’t change ageism - it’s a bias that’s hard wired into a hiring manager’s thought process. The best you can do is to get the hiring manager to overlook this bias. If you’re thinking it’s ageism, the real reason you didn’t get the job is because you didn’t do enough to convince your hiring manager to ignore ageism.

Reasons # 1 - # 5 You Didn’t Get The Job:

Someone else showed they could solve the company’s problems better than you: Companies hire people to solve problems and make money for them. And the company looks for the person they believe will be able to solve their problems best - that’s not necessarily the person with the best skills or the best experience. Do you know what the company’s, department’s and hiring manager’s most pressing problems are? How does your resume, your interview answers, and your first impression demonstrate how you can best solve these problems (http://recareered.blogspot.com/2010/03/would-you-stop-looking-for-job-already.html)?

The hiring manager liked someone else better: People hire employees they like. For many hiring managers, likability is the single most important criteria. Since likability in an interview is often determined by first impressions within the first few seconds, how can you influence how likable the hiring manager finds you (http://recareered.blogspot.com/2010/06/see-how-easily-you-can-master-non.html)?

The 4th audience bounced you: The 4th audience is the hiring manager’s boss, peers and team. Many times, you may not meet all or any of the 4th audience, but that doesn’t decrease their influence over hiring decisions. In those cases, the only thing selling you is your resume. Does your resume speak to the 4th audience(http://recareered.blogspot.com/2010/05/how-to-write-your-resume-for-4th_2825.html)?

You weren’t a fit for the company/department: Fit is the all encompassing word that means you were qualified, but you still didn’t get the job. It’s frustrating for most candidates, because they really don’t know what fit looks like at a particular company. But there is a wealth of information available about fit for a specific company - you just need to know where to look and the right questions to ask. (http://recareered.blogspot.com/2010/04/why-good-career-changers-are.html).

You were viewed as overqualified: This is a huge frustration today, especially among candidates 40+. Overqualified is a catch-phrase that can mean a number of specific things:
- Too expensive
- Uncoachable, inflexible, set in your ways
- ”Little brother/sister syndrome”
- Hiring manager fear of being overshadowed
- Not hungry enough
- Telling the manager how to do their job
- Greater risk of departure when job market improves
- Fit
- Ageism