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Candidate Help & Advice

Reasons Why You Didn’t Get the Job

Failed Job photo from ShutterstockSometimes things don’t go according to the plan. You may feel that you have nailed the interview but in the end, learn that you didn’t get the job. There may be a lot of reasons why you didn’t get the job and got passed up for someone else. It is always recommended to ask the recruiter why you have been rejected so that you can better prepare for your next interviews. However, you may not always get a helpful feedback and instead, can only end up with a generic answer.

There may be things which are beyond your control and have absolutely nothing to do with your qualifications or interviewing skills but often there are things you might do differently to get the job you have been dreaming of. Below are some of the reasons why you didn’t get the job.

1. They hired a previous employee or someone who is working in another department: Hiring someone they already knew or already working in the organization is less risky for the hiring manager because that person knows the company culture and how the business is going internally. Therefore, he can learn the responsibilities of the job quicker compared to someone else who is totally new to the company.

2. You are not a good fit for the company or the team: There is nothing you can do about this. Some click better with others and some don’t. This doesn’t mean that you don’t have a good personality or you are not friendly towards new people. It only means that the chemistry didn’t work between you and the hiring manager. Since the hiring manager will be working with the new employee, he will prefer someone else whose connection click better with his.

3. You were not prepared well enough: You were just not that prepared and someone else was! Maybe you didn’t look at the company website enough or didn’t google the interviewer or simply didn’t study for the answers of the most asked interview questions. In this case, for your next interview, definitely make some practice with a friend and be prepared to discuss your accomplishments and why you are interested in this position plus working for this company.

4. Budgeting issues: If you ask for a salary that is out of their budget, they cannot hire you even if they want to. It is always good to ask their salary range first and then tell the salary you wish to receive only if they mention salaries during the interview. Otherwise, don’t mention anything related to salaries until you are extended an offer. Moreover, sometimes the budget for the job may get cancelled due to unexpected events such as a sales drop or a company acquisition, etc. In this case, there is nothing you can do to change the situation.

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