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The few times I have received honest feedback is when I was the #2 candidate and they were interested in hiring me at a later date if a position opened. And there really isn't anything you can do about that feedback anyway. What if they said the person had this specific degree from this specific college or spent 2 years doing XYZ or had worked for someone that they knew personally so they had a stellar reference? You can't *improve* yourself to fit those qualifications.
Sometimes someone else is a better fit. And there is nothing that YOU can do to improve that because a perfect fit at Company A is not a perfect fit at Company B or Company C or Company D. What got the candidate the job at Company A may very well have cost them tot job offer at Company B.
Don't make yourself crazy trying to analyze employers. You can't.
who cares why they rejected you. They don't want you. MOVE ON. I agree you can make yourself crazy analyzing employers. Their reasons might be personal ones. For fear of being sued, they'll never tell you. IF they give you a stupid reason then you should be glad they didn't hire you. Who wants to work for stupid people who are narrow minded? Would you trust them? I wouldn't. Sometimes they hire someone because of nepotism or because they want "younger" people. Or someone looks "hot" especially if it's for sales or clerical support. They don't care about ability and skills. Not all employers reject you because of some defect you supposedly have. Maybe the boss wants to put his "nephew" there. Or "girlfriend."
When they hire someone else, they simply found someone that was a better fit for them than you are. They may feel the other person has a better professional education, better experience, and can be the other person is one they feel is equal to you professionally, but is a better fit with existing personnel. Remember that two applicants are not exactly the same, and one will stand out more than the others will as an ideal candidate. They may get 500 applicants and narrow it down to 5 possibles, which you may be one of them. But for some reason, the HM will determine which one is the best for the job. Back in the days I was hiring manager, I first sorted out the ones with the most education/experience to do the job, and narrowed that down real quick to the ones I would interview. Those that would stand out as the best possibilities. Then I would hold interviews. You would be surprised at how quickly one of them will stand out as the best applicant, and that one would be offered the job.
The answer, "We found another candidate that was more qualified for the job", is the true answer for anyone wanting to know why they were not hired.
Would you rather hear:
1: They do not have education/experience to do the job, and you don't have any so you are not qualified for at all in any way. You should be ashamed to even have applied for a job you are so badly qualified for and waste our time considering you.
2: You have the professional experience, but your personalty would drive everyone crazy, and I don't want to lose valuable employees over having you work here.
3: You are so unsure of yourself, I can't even get answers out of you when I ask a question. How do you think, that I would be able to get answers out of you if you worked here.
And this list can go on and on. The truth is still, We found a better candidate. It is best to use this standard excuse for not hiring you, as it keeps from hurting your feelings with a big hit, or get sued after telling you the truth.
And often it is not you did anything wrong, or were not qualified, it is simply the best possible candidate applied and was the one hired.
Sounds like you are hoping that HR departments (or hiring managers) tutor you on career development and/or interviewing... this is not their role.
And "rejected" is really the wrong word. If 100 plumbers apply for a job, are 99 of them rejected? They have emotional intelligence issues if they think like that.
To be clear, I said receiving a rejection after a final round interview. I could care less about "rejections" prior to that stage. But once you make it through weeks, even months, of phone screens, hiring tests, various interviews, and you're at the final one narrowed down to 2-4 candidates, it's definitely a rejection at that point and it would be nice to know why. I consider my interviewing skills to be very professional as well, so the usual red flags such as poor communication, not dressed neatly, not giving specific examples, not being personable enough, etc don't apply.
The worst part is that deep down I know hiring managers/HR will never tell you the true reason you weren't hired, because at that point the reason you weren't hired is most likely a purely subjective one, and potentially a discriminatory one!!!
Last edited by the_grimace; 08-04-2016 at 04:26 PM..
Probably not. I had one potential employer string me along for 6 months after interviewing. After three weeks, I stopped worrying but they still kept me "informed" on the position. I knew they were full of crap. They're also one of those companies who won't tell a person what the pay rate actually is until they're hired.
Reminds me of one role I applied for. I interviewed for a period of five months. Did two phone screens with HR. Then two hiring tests. Then a group phone interview with some hiring managers. Then another phone interview with my potential direct manager. Then told the next step would have been getting flown out for a final on-site interview. They told me they wanted me for the on-site and would be reaching out to schedule it shortly.
Only problem was I never heard back from them.... I followed up multiple times over a period of 6 weeks, but no response, and I eventually forgot about it and moved on. Imagine my surprise when another 8 months later, I get a standard rejection letter from the company. After all that!
The funniest part of this story was that I was an acquaintance with one of the people in the department there (he was the one that showed me the job) and I told him how they told me I would be going out for the on-site but they disappeared. He was shocked. He said that the company decided to cancel hiring for that position because of budget but he was told all the candidates were notified of the change and that the position was eliminated. Nope! They never told me! And they were telling me to pack my bags for a flight and on-site interview!
Last edited by the_grimace; 08-04-2016 at 04:33 PM..
Employers are down right rude and ignorant. Unfortunately, the way the market is today, they can be. Right now its an employer's market. In the US at least, there is a surplus of labor, (more people than jobs),. Employers know this. They know they can be very picky about who they hire. To the OP and others don't forget politics are often the reason many land jobs too.
In 2009 where I live the natural gas drilling boom started. It lasted from late 2009 to around 2013 when it leveled off, then in 2015 it came to a halt. When the boom started there was a huge demand for truck drivers, mainly to haul water. Local trucking companies raised their driver's pay big time just to retain their own drivers. Many of these drilling and water hauling companies that moved into the area were so desperate that they hired people with just a CDL permit and you would train with them and as long as you could pass the test and get your CDL within a certain time frame you kept your job. These companies were starting drivers off at $3-$4 an hour more than local companies hence why local companies had to give raises. Now, these companies are gone and the drilling has mostly stopped. Wages at local trucking companies have been mostly stagnant. As far as good driving jobs that are local, (home everyday), and pay good with good benefits good luck finding one. I also know people that lost their jobs when the drilling stopped and the only driving jobs they could land were "over-the-road." Most said no so many are now working in other fields. Supply and demand.
I also know someone that recently retired from the federal bureau of prisons. Although he has health insurance and a pension the rest of his life he wanted to get a part time job to supplement his pension. He was shocked at the amount of places he applied to that didn't even call him back. It's not like he was demanding a lot of money and he didn't even need benefits.
1: They do not have education/experience to do the job, and you don't have any so you are not qualified for at all in any way. You should be ashamed to even have applied for a job you are so badly qualified for and waste our time considering you.
2: You have the professional experience, but your personalty would drive everyone crazy, and I don't want to lose valuable employees over having you work here.
3: You are so unsure of yourself, I can't even get answers out of you when I ask a question. How do you think, that I would be able to get answers out of you if you worked here.
And this list can go on and on. The truth is still, We found a better candidate. It is best to use this standard excuse for not hiring you, as it keeps from hurting your feelings with a big hit, or get sued after telling you the truth..
Actually yes, I'd rather hear this so at least I know what to work on.
Reminds me of one role I applied for. I interviewed for a period of five months. Did two phone screens with HR. Then two hiring tests. Then a group phone interview with some hiring managers. Then another phone interview with my potential direct manager. Then told the next step would have been getting flown out for a final on-site interview. They told me they wanted me for the on-site and would be reaching out to schedule it shortly.
Only problem was I never heard back from them.... I followed up multiple times over a period of 6 weeks, but no response, and I eventually forgot about it and moved on. Imagine my surprise when another 8 months later, I get a standard rejection letter from the company. After all that!
The funniest part of this story was that I was an acquaintance with one of the people in the department there (he was the one that showed me the job) and I told him how they told me I would be going out for the on-site but they disappeared. He was shocked. He said that the company decided to cancel hiring for that position because of budget but he was told all the candidates were notified of the change and that the position was eliminated. Nope! They never told me! And they were telling me to pack my bags for a flight and on-site interview!
Damn, that's terrible! I wasn't stringed along like that. The only notifications I received were phone calls and occasional emails. I stopped caring after three weeks because one of their HR employees moved in across the hall. She told me all kinds of things about that company and that their "generous" pay package isn't all that great. It's quite awful and turnover is almost 100%. The only people whose pay is generous is the higher-ups.
Employers are down right rude and ignorant. Unfortunately, the way the market is today, they can be. Right now its an employer's market. In the US at least, there is a surplus of labor, (more people than jobs),. Employers know this. They know they can be very picky about who they hire. To the OP and others don't forget politics are often the reason many land jobs too.
In 2009 where I live the natural gas drilling boom started. It lasted from late 2009 to around 2013 when it leveled off, then in 2015 it came to a halt. When the boom started there was a huge demand for truck drivers, mainly to haul water. Local trucking companies raised their driver's pay big time just to retain their own drivers. Many of these drilling and water hauling companies that moved into the area were so desperate that they hired people with just a CDL permit and you would train with them and as long as you could pass the test and get your CDL within a certain time frame you kept your job. These companies were starting drivers off at $3-$4 an hour more than local companies hence why local companies had to give raises. Now, these companies are gone and the drilling has mostly stopped. Wages at local trucking companies have been mostly stagnant. As far as good driving jobs that are local, (home everyday), and pay good with good benefits good luck finding one. I also know people that lost their jobs when the drilling stopped and the only driving jobs they could land were "over-the-road." Most said no so many are now working in other fields. Supply and demand.
I also know someone that recently retired from the federal bureau of prisons. Although he has health insurance and a pension the rest of his life he wanted to get a part time job to supplement his pension. He was shocked at the amount of places he applied to that didn't even call him back. It's not like he was demanding a lot of money and he didn't even need benefits.
Water haulers drive like absolute ---t. I deal with them on a somewhat regular basis whenever I venture into the Permian Basin and SE New Mexico. I suspected they were permit holders or driving school rejects.
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