10 Reasons You Didn’t Get the Job
We’ve all been there. We applied for jobs and didn’t get there. It sucks, especially if you need a new job ASAP. The truth is that no one is offered every job they interview for. Sometimes it can take a while to get a new gig. A few years ago, I interviewed with six companies before I was hired as a financial aid counselor. There are numerous reasons you didn’t get the job you applied for. If you are asking yourself why didn’t you get the job, you will want to read this post.
Top 10 Reasons You Didn’t Get the Job
1. You Weren’t Prepared for the Interview
Believe it or not, some people are not prepared for their interviews. They don’t research the company. That’s a huge mistake. You should always take the time to research the company that you’re interviewing. Some key things that you want to know are the founder and the date the company began. You also want to know who the president or the CEO is. If you don’t take the time to learn a little about the company, you will be screwed. In every interview that I’ve had after college, someone asked me what I knew about the company. Make sure that you can answer that question once you get asked.
2. You Didn’t Dress the Part
You have to dress the part for the interview. Even though it seems common sense, you’d be surprised how many people don’t dress correctly for interviews. For most interviews, you should dress up for your interview. A black or navy blue suit should work for men and women. Don’t expect to get a job coming to an interview with your jeans sagging and a t-shirt on. That’s not a good look. Your first impression means a lot.
3. Your Hygiene Was Not Good
Some people don’t get hired because of their hygiene. You would think every adult would know to shower and smell their best for an interview. Unfortunately, they don’t. Make sure that you use deodorant. Don’t smoke weed before your interview. The smell can linger in your clothes. Also, don’t drink heavily the night before your interview. If you are the type who sweats a lot, the alcohol smell can seep through your pores. If the person interviewing you smells that, you can kiss that opportunity goodbye. Do what you must do to ensure your hygiene is good before the interview.
4. You Didn’t Have Enough Experience
Sometimes people aren’t hired because they don’t have enough experience. That has happened to me before. Sometimes it’s understandable, and sometimes it’s not. How can you gain experience if you can’t get into the industry? If this happens to you, don’t give up. You have to keep on applying. You will eventually get your opportunity. Don’t give up.
5. You Talked Too Much
The final reason you didn’t get the job is that you talked too much. Talking too much can turn off your interviewers. You could say the wrong thing and piss the interviewer off. When being interviewed, ensure you actively engage with your interviewer, but stay on topic. Don’t talk yourself out of your future job.
6. Poorly Written CV
It is often said that your CV is just like your passport; the interviewer gets to meet you before they meet you. It mirrors who you are, from your background to your educational history and your working experience. It is very important that you present your CV in a way that attracts the reader’s attention.
Sell yourself in your CV first before doing so in person. If you do not know how to construct a presentable CV, you can readily give it to a company that does the work for a fair price.
7. You Were Late For The Interview
Everyone knows it is standard for you to arrive at least 15 minutes before your interview time. Being late sets a bad record before the company, and they wouldn’t like to start on a bad note with you. So, make arrangements a day before if your interview location is far for you to arrive in time. Basically, do all necessary for you to be among the first five candidates. You never can know if this will be the determining criteria for you to get the job.
8. Company’s Budget
Every company has a budget for every candidate employed in their organization, and they would try hard not to exceed it. If you asked for a much higher salary pay than what they’re offering to pay you comfortably, the chances are high that you will not be called back to work for them. If you cannot compromise, another person will give you the job.
9. Too Much Experience
Indeed, there is such a thing as having too much experience for a job or being too qualified for a position. A salesperson’s job in a beauty store may require no higher than a high school diploma, but if you possess a Bachelor’s; this means that your qualifications supersede what the company requires, and they may not be able to comfortably pay you the salary that you are expecting of them. The best solution is to apply for jobs matching your qualifications.
10. You Just Didn’t Stand Out
Let’s be honest; over 20 people were interviewed for the same position; what are the chances you were better than all of them? Face it, you weren’t that good enough, someone in the crowd had a much better CV, had more experience for the job, and maybe virtually all the hiring managers seemed to like that person. You know the company wants to keep you when you’re their favorite candidate- you should work hard enough to be unforgettable. Although there is no way one can know this, all you have to do is to improve yourself more. Develop your CV, take certifications, and do all that needs to be done. Trust me; you will succeed in your next interview and be hired.
Those were the reasons you didn’t get the job. Hopefully, none of those have happened to you. If so, I hope you learned from the situation. That way, it won’t happen again.
Do you know of other reasons people may not have gotten the job? Feel free to comment below.
Well there were times I did get the job and wished I hadn’t too. :). Having had friends in HR, other reasons I’ve heard for petiole not getting the job, perfume to strong, didn’t seem like a good fit with the team, typos or inconsistencies on resume, or late for interview.
I just don’t get how a person could be late for an interview.
Having been on the other side of desk…meaning that I’ve done a lot of hiring…I can say that these are spot on! While I liked to engage with potential employees, nothing turned me off more than the blabberer:)
I have found why I don’t hire someone is their response to one simple question. Why do you want to work for Garrett Specialties? I can’t tell you how many will say, I need a job. Wrong answer
Lol. I can’t believe people actually have said that before.
I’m guilty of talking too much. Luckily, people take to my personality because it could gone south really fast! I think being prepared is key. Doing a quick internet search of the company and where it stands will help you out in the interview. Plus, when the time comes to ask the interviewer questions it’ll give you an idea on what you should target.
As someone who did a fairly substantial amount of hiring I can tell you that nothing turned me off faster than someone who had no clue what the company was or what we did.
I know getting a job is one of the hardest things I ever did, and it took a long time. I once heard that in an interview, they are not looking to find the person they need, but to eliminate people from the list. With this in mind, you have to be perfect when you go into that interview. Thanks for sharing.
I definitely believe that a lot of companies are looking to eliminate people during the interview process.
I may be guilty of talking too much; I always want to tell a story. Now that I read this it may have accounted for some of my job interview results in the past 🙂
I haven’t apply for a job before. The points on this post can be beneficial to me in near future if I intend going for an interview. Thanks so much.
I read a recent post on Forbes… or was it Mashable?… about this very topic, and the interviewee ended up taking the reins and turning the questions around so that she solved the problem the interviewer had. A great tactic, if you ask me.
All the points are valid. I think when someone is going for interview, must prepare well.
Because of technology and internet we can easily search about comapny and then can study about it.
It can help in many ways.
I have not taken any interview for job but conducted so many for admission of students.
It is very easy to research a company. People are too lazy though.
Haha oh man I remember you sharing the story about you drinking the night before and sweating it off during the interview. Definitely good advice! I would also say that sometimes you just need to not overthink it. If you made it to the interview stage you were well qualified and had a really good shot at getting the job. I think a lot of times, especially corporate jobs, you could justify hiring anyone that makes it to the interview stage. So don’t overthink it and realize it’s a numbers game. There will always be another job to apply to, and you should apply to many jobs to hedge your bets.
You’re right about the overthinking aspect of it. Doing that could stress you out and cause you to be nervous in the interview.
Great post. Another one might be “You didn’t want it enough”. Sometimes showing that hunger helps.
Good one.
I hate, hate, hate interviews. I am not a talker but for some reason during interviews I get so nervous I INTERRUPT the interviewer. I can’t control it! I’m just that awkward. It’s like a crazy bad interview tick and it’s embarrassing!
Oh and sometimes you don’t get the job because you’re overqualified and they think they would have a longer shot with someone who is less qualified.
Thanks for reading. You’re right about companies not hiring people because they could be overqualified. It’s happened to me before.
My biggest mistake in my younger years was not doing enough research on the company I was applying to. As I got older, I really took time to properly prepare for an interview. It made a world of difference and quite honestly, I was more confident during the interview because I knew I was prepared!
People underestimate how much researching a company can help them. Sometimes it could make or break you when it comes to getting that job or not.
Great tips. I related to you smelled bad. I conducted interviews last week and two of the candidates smoked so heavily my allergies were acting up in the interview. That is a big no-no.
Dang. That’s not good.
Hey Jason! A very helpful article. Hygiene is indeed essential and a very basic “to-do” for job interviews. Be prepared and don’t be smoking high, it really stinks!
I only worked for one company so I did not interview often but I hired hundreds of people. And when we’d get bought out I’d generally have to interview to keep my job or to get a promotion. I rarely failed to get the promotion. If you can inspire confidence and come across as a friendly and generous and trustworthy team member you’ll get the job. If there is anything that sends out a weird or unprofessional vibe you don’t stand a chance. All of those are good tips, but one that always killed the deal for me was the CV or resume. If it had typos and grammatical mistakes in it that was a major turn off for me. That’s an important document, if you can’t even get it proofread by someone to catch mistakes then you aren’t a serious candidate in my opinion. Yet half of the resumes I read had obvious mistakes in them. So easy to fix.
Thanks for reading!