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Just received a generic email that told me I was not selected for the position I had applied for. This is after going through phone interviews, taking analytical tests, and flying in for an all day on-site interview. I was ready to accept an offer if I was given one and did everything I could to show interest. I did my research on the company, thanked everyone I met with, was really positive with everyone I met - even the HR lady and the receptionist, asked questions, made eye contact, and followed up with thank you notes via email and by snail mail. I honestly put in a lot of effort and was very well qualified for the position as well.
I guess I can't go on my gut feel of how an interview went anymore like I could when taking a test in college. In college, I knew right when I walked out of a test that I aced it and I am starting to feel like it's more luck than anything during an interview no matter how thoroughly prepared you are. I have a solid background - double major in Math and Applied Physics from a solid, private university with a 3.85 GPA and had internship experience in the field to which I was applying. I also have a type A personality and am very outgoing which should be a positive.
Bottom line is I worked harder than 99% of my classmates in college and would work with that same kind of energy and motivation with any job I was offered. I'm not sure why these employers keep overlooking me but I definitely am going to use this as a little chip on my shoulder.
I graduated in May 2012 but was looking mostly at government agencies, large insurance companies, aerospace defense contractors (Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, etc), and other various companies in need of someone with an analytical background. I have probably applied to 300+ companies, have had a good amount of phone interviews and have gone on-site to 6 companies (two coming up and possibly another one) but just cannot seem to seal the deal. The very first company I went on-site for I got offered the job but that was back in July and I turned that down. Looking back on it, I should have accepted it if I knew that I wouldn't have anything else 8 months later.
dont worry, keep your head up. often times when one is doing all that he can and following all the rules of job hunting a still not sealing the deal it just boils down to fit. always make sure that you allow your personality to shine through. besides selling yourself remember to focus on making personal connections and building rapport with all of your interviewers... right or wrong people often hire those they can see themselves being friends with. if youre doing this plus everything else then its just a matter of time until the right opportunity opens up. hang in there. good luck.
Just received a generic email that told me I was not selected for the position I had applied for. This is after going through phone interviews, taking analytical tests, and flying in for an all day on-site interview. I was ready to accept an offer if I was given one and did everything I could to show interest. I did my research on the company, thanked everyone I met with, was really positive with everyone I met - even the HR lady and the receptionist, asked questions, made eye contact, and followed up with thank you notes via email and by snail mail. I honestly put in a lot of effort and was very well qualified for the position as well.
I guess I can't go on my gut feel of how an interview went anymore like I could when taking a test in college. In college, I knew right when I walked out of a test that I aced it and I am starting to feel like it's more luck than anything during an interview no matter how thoroughly prepared you are. I have a solid background - double major in Math and Applied Physics from a solid, private university with a 3.85 GPA and had internship experience in the field to which I was applying. I also have a type A personality and am very outgoing which should be a positive.
Bottom line is I worked harder than 99% of my classmates in college and would work with that same kind of energy and motivation with any job I was offered. I'm not sure why these employers keep overlooking me but I definitely am going to use this as a little chip on my shoulder.
You already have a visible chip on your shoulder. And I am guessing this attitude shows through in interviews. If I interviewed you and got the feeling of entitlement that you put forth in this post, I would send you a generic "no" letter as well.
Bottom line is I worked harder than 99% of my classmates in college and would work with that same kind of energy and motivation with any job I was offered. I'm not sure why these employers keep overlooking me but I definitely am going to use this as a little chip on my shoulder.
Ultimate, respectfully and with compassion, it is not possible for you to know how hard they may have worked. I submit the following speculations respectfully, based on ooking back at the way I was when starting out. If the shoe does not fit, don't wear it. It is the best I can do, not knowing much about the circumstance, and not knowing you at all.
It may be time to consider taking a step back to broaden your view. It is possible that you may not have cornered the market on everything, and that when working in teams, other people may have some insight as well. The interviewers may have imagined what it would be like working with somebody who has it all nailed.
If your experience throughout life has been that you are the best at what you do, the hardest working, most accomplished, most positive, and most extraverted person in the room, and always come up with the right answer to boot, then you may have been viewed as too exhausting to work with.
Is it possible that you have been the big fish in the small pond up until now? Please consider the possibility that many of your peers in the company have been through more competitive schools, and have one experience which you lack: they have been forced into the experience of being the small fish in the big pond. It makes a world of difference, having that experience. Impossible to describe other than to say it is a forced acknowledgment of your limitations, and forces you into the uncomfortable admission that your best contribution may just be to be known as a valuable business partner who can bring something to the table, meets his deadlines, and is otherwise reliable. NOT as somebody who outshines everybody else.
Not saying that you ought to go around and start eating humble pie at all! Consider this as an alternative: on your next interview, consider focusing on the company and its problems. Engage the interviewers in conversation about a typical problem, and help them solve it in real time. Focus on the company's problems, and let them see your process of problem solving. It's not technical. The bigger part of it is how you play off the team. This is not something that you can bulldoze your way through. A case study, as it were.
Good luck. I agree, you should have taken that offer in July. Even if that job was not your ultimate, it would have given you practice in being an equal business partner in problem solving to arrive at a solution that has broad support.
Everybody goes through this. It is painful, and universal.
Location: where people are either too stupid to leave or too stuck to move
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sucks you had to use your money to fly in :-/
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