In this post, we’re going to go over some common reasons on why people don’t get the job including some that we’ve seen ourselves.
Alright! Let’s get into it
The seven reasons why you didn’t get the job
1. Lying
Okay, we should probably just get the most obvious thing out of the way. First, right, you should not lie in an interview but this also applies to white lies and stretching the truth and even certain types of spin on your story especially at a larger company. The recruiter or the hiring manager is going to crosscheck your work and they’re going to maybe even call your references and do background check. The other problem with lying is that you’re probably going to have a harder time keeping your overall story straight.
2. Not writing a post interview thank you
Now a post interview thank you, you know does a few things. One, it shows that you’re really excited about the role, and that you want the role. It thanks the interviewer for taking the time to interview you. That’s a skill set that every company is going to want I’d recommend sending it via email within two or three hours post interview. Send it to everyone who interviewed you that day. If you don’t have the contact information make sure to mention something like “and I’d also like to thank Michael for meeting with me as well but I don’t have his contact could you please let him know I appreciate his time”.
3. Being a jerk to the receptionist or on the elevator coming into the building, or whatever your first contact is with the company
Every opinion matters and you never know if maybe your future colleague is actually filling in for the receptionist that day or for a couple minutes or something like that. Therefore, whether you think they are just the receptionist or somebody more important in the company you should treat everyone with respect because first impressions really matter.
4. Making phone calls while in the building
Recruiters have told us horror stories. One recently was that she rode the elevator down with somebody who was complaining about her interview in the elevator of the building of the company not a good luck.
5. Sounding rehearsed
Many articles will tell you to Prepare! Prepare! Prepare! Research! Research! Research! And you should know your personal pitch so you can be really smooth with that elevator pitch and answering probably that very first question you’re going to get tell me about yourself.
A job interview is also a conversation you should be able to free flow between thoughts, and not feel like oh man I rehearsed this answer, and they’re going out of order. I don’t know how to adapt and have this as a conversation, and not just as robotic you know back and forth I know you’re nervous but it might help.
Crack a joke between dialogues or to do something that shows you’re human and that you’ve got this commonality with a person. Don’t hesitate to ask for clarification on a question or two. Take your time before you answer or to even ask more questions. After they’ve asked you a question to make sure that you can answer it and complete thorough way, pauses are much better than sounding robotic.
6. Not sounding rehearsed enough
On the other side, you also don’t want to come into a job interview not knowing anything about the company. If you want the job, you have to study up on all aspects that includes the industry that the company is in, the company, the job title, and the role. Maybe the department, maybe it even lets you know who your future boss is.
Research their background a little bit; you don’t want to walk in blindly either if you want the job. Plan to spend at least several hours researching the company, your interviewer head for LinkedIn for this press about the said company and anything you can find out about current projects and if you’re not subscribed to their newsletters following them on social media accounts you absolutely should reason.
7. Over sharing or talking smack
There are going to be questions around hey why are you leaving your previous employer? Alternatively, what were some of the biggest challenges you have on past projects? These are probably going to be asked of you. You can absolutely be candid and detailed without all the weird details about why you hate your boss or your toxic co-workers.
We want to focus on the work not on the interpersonal relationships but there are some more subtle ways that oversharing can also take a toll. Somebody might say, “Oh I applied for a job here because I wanted to have a flexible schedule and I knew that you guys offered flexible Fridays”.
Therefore, those are just seven reasons on why you didn’t get the job.