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Apparently, I must suck at interviews. My resume is getting me noticed and called for interviews, but I don't get the job. This has been my 2nd one this year, and kinda feels like a smack in the face.
I was told that I was the last person they were interviewing for the position. It was out of state so I drove 240 miles and made sure I got there right on time. I was taken to a conference room, and it was a round table interview with two guys and three women. The atmosphere was fairly light hearted with some humor and ribbing of each other. (this was on a Friday too) I was asked some unusual questions like what are my hobbies outside of work, and if I would be comfortable working with women. My GF told me these are actually illegal questions to ask since they do not pertain to the job specifically.
I talked a lot about my myself, skill set, and work examples where I had succeeded. The worst part for me was my allergies kicked in, and sure enough, the itch returned in my throat forcing me to start coughing. I fished around for a cough drop, but for about a minute, I could barely talk right. I was told that they would make a decision within a week and let me know something via email.
I got the email less than two hours later:
Mr. XXXXX – we appreciate your interest in the Application Analyst position at XXXXX. We have made a decision and unfortunately we have decided on another candidate. We wish you good luck in any future endeavors you may persue.
It felt like a punch to the gut not only because I didn't get the job, but because the decision was made so quickly. Does this mean I did really bad on the interview, or perhaps they were already pretty much decided on someone else? If it is the latter then it's pretty lousy for them to allow me to drive that far for nothing.
Should I write an email reply or just let it go? His email felt pretty cold, so I thought about just a flat reply saying "Thank you for the consideration."
Location: RI, MA, VT, WI, IL, CA, IN (that one sucked), KY
41,936 posts, read 36,962,945 times
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Let it go.
Did you not have water? You should bring a bottle of water if this an issue. Almost everyplace with any class will offer water, but it is good to be prepared.
Let it go and get after the next one. It happens a lot, you just have to be able to accept rejection on occasion, it's nothing personal there was just a better candidate.
The questions about hobby and if you can work with women are not illegal BTW.
Hard to believe they would reject you for a cough, but it would have been better to take meds ahead of time or have water on hand, or maybe not have to fish so hard for that cough drop.
Apparently, I must suck at interviews. My resume is getting me noticed and called for interviews, but I don't get the job. This has been my 2nd one this year, and kinda feels like a smack in the face.
I was told that I was the last person they were interviewing for the position. It was out of state so I drove 240 miles and made sure I got there right on time. I was taken to a conference room, and it was a round table interview with two guys and three women. The atmosphere was fairly light hearted with some humor and ribbing of each other. (this was on a Friday too) I was asked some unusual questions like what are my hobbies outside of work, and if I would be comfortable working with women. My GF told me these are actually illegal questions to ask since they do not pertain to the job specifically.
I talked a lot about my myself, skill set, and work examples where I had succeeded. The worst part for me was my allergies kicked in, and sure enough, the itch returned in my throat forcing me to start coughing. I fished around for a cough drop, but for about a minute, I could barely talk right. I was told that they would make a decision within a week and let me know something via email.
I got the email less than two hours later:
Mr. XXXXX – we appreciate your interest in the Application Analyst position at XXXXX. We have made a decision and unfortunately we have decided on another candidate. We wish you good luck in any future endeavors you may persue.
It felt like a punch to the gut not only because I didn't get the job, but because the decision was made so quickly. Does this mean I did really bad on the interview, or perhaps they were already pretty much decided on someone else? If it is the latter then it's pretty lousy for them to allow me to drive that far for nothing.
Should I write an email reply or just let it go? His email felt pretty cold, so I thought about just a flat reply saying "Thank you for the consideration."
It stinks that it did not work out for you this time.
I would definitely write an email reply thanking them for the opportunity to interview.
At least they told you their decision. If you haven't noticed, many companies do not even give you the courtesy of a response.
Also, as for the fast response, it mostly meant that they during their interview process had their #1 candidate in mind, but wanted to be fair and see everyone that was qualified.
I'm sorry to hear you didn't get the job. Especially after driving that distance.
Being human, we are constantly looking for answers. And sometimes the "why" is answered incorrectly.
I doubt you weren't hired because you were coughing. If anything, they may have felt bad you were going through that during an interview. More likely, there were others who had more experience, or better skillsets, or a personality that seemed to fit in better with the team that is already in place. Hiring managers care about those things, not a cough. And we can tell before we're done interviewing a person, in most (but not all) cases whether or not they would be a good match for the job and good fit with the company.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,585 posts, read 81,186,228 times
Reputation: 57821
Two failed interviews is not evidence of failure, you have barely begun. I have no idea how many competitors you had, but we are still getting 30-100 depending on the position. Just getting an interview places you in the top 10-25% of the applicants. A bit of coughing is not held against you. You need to look more at the questions and your answers. Keeping it to a simple yes or no is not as good as giving actual examples. In response to that one question ".. if you would be comfortable working with women" a response of "yes" is not the same as talking for a minute or two about a previous job where you worked with a diverse group of people from various backgrounds and genders and always got along with them all, and appreciated the diversity of viewpoints. We always provite glasses and a pitcher of water with ice at our interviews, but in your case it might be good to use a cough drop as you sit and wait to be called into the interview room. I am surprised at the timing of their email. We will almost always make the decision right after the last interview but never notify people until the selected candidate has accepted an offer and the background check has been passed.
I wonder, 5 people. Does anyone know how that would work? I presume they would vote and if the candidate gets 4 yes and 1 no, he will get the job, vice versa...
And OP I think someone before you impressed them with their qualifications and that you were called in just to see how you do, but you didn't convince them enough. It happens, screw them and move on, you'll get something soon.
I was told that I was the last person they were interviewing for the position.
It felt like a punch to the gut not only because I didn't get the job, but because the decision was made so quickly.
They were able to make their decision quickly because you were the last person they had to interview. If you were the first, you would have had to wait for everyone else. Sorry you didn't get the position but the timeline makes perfect sense to me.
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