“I’m sorry—we’ve actually made an offer to another candidate.”
It’s a phrase any job hunter hates to hear, especially when the days drag on after your initial interview, and you begin to wonder, “Where did I go wrong?”
Of course, most of us already know the tried-and-true etiquette for landing your dream job: Don’t forget the cover letter. Make sure your social media accounts are up-to-date.
But what other little hobgoblins of job hunting can really trip you up?
We spoke to hiring managers to find out the real reasons good
applicants can get the ax—and seven told us how potential hires they’ve
interviewed have talked themselves out of a paycheck.
1. Lack of Follow Up
“Not providing good follow up
is almost always a killer,” says Meghan Keane, vice president of
editorial at Alloy Digital. “I’m always surprised when I have an
interview with someone I really like, and they don’t follow up. No thank
you note. No outreach.
It usually means they aren’t interested in the
job or aren’t as good as I thought.”
The reason this matters is that it’s a good indication of how you’ll
perform on the job: “When you’re actually working with someone, you need
them to be responsible,” she says. “If they can’t get back to you when
they really want to be hired, would they be responsive on a daily
basis?”
The Takeaway
Be prolific in your thanks. After every interview, send a follow-up
note, says Keane. Even if you immediately hear that you aren’t getting
the job, send a thank you for the consideration. Even if the person
interviewing you was rude and you wouldn’t take the job had it been
offered, send a thank you because it’s the right thing to do. And if you don’t want the job, do it simply because you never know where your interviewer will land next.
2. Not Knowing Your Audience
You’d think there are certain things that would be givens, like not
trotting out any big, red flags that could put the kibosh on your
getting the job. “In our business, you have to be dedicated to the
country and the military,” explains Scott Maddox, site manager at a
national defense corporation
. “Not to mention, you have to be able to pass a background check.
I had one applicant who slyly mentioned that he does everything in his
power to not pay his taxes. I couldn’t believe he would say something
like that to a company that works with the government.”
The Takeaway
Do your homework—and that means researching not only the particular company you’re interviewing with,
but keeping up on industry norms and trends. Then make sure that your
behavior and the information you offer in the interview will
help your cause, not hurt it. And, as a general rule of thumb, it’s almost always better to pay your taxes.
3. Being Overly Ambitious
“Of course we want employees who are ambitious and hope to move
forward with our company,” says Jeremy Gates, research team leader at a
pharmaceutical company. “But at the same time, I don’t want to hire an
entry-level employee who isn’t going to be happy with the job she’s
getting. I had one young lady who was extremely bright and very driven,
but she didn’t ask a single question about what her position would be
now. She was only interested in how quickly she could get promoted
and our advancement opportunities. If you’re already looking at the job
that you might be eligible for months from now, it tells me that you
aren’t going to be satisfied with the position you’re getting.”
The Takeaway
There’s a fine line to walk between wanting to advance—and wanting it
so badly you talk yourself out of a job you haven’t gotten yet. It is
okay to ask a single question about this job’s advancement
opportunities, or whether the company frequently promotes from within, but if you want to get hired, never announce that you don’t do grunt work, and
do focus your attention on proving you’re the best candidate for the job in front of you.
4. Playing the Victim
“Every once in a while, I’ll get a candidate who just seems to have
the worst luck at everything,” recalls M.C., a commercial banking
manager. “They had to leave one job because of an ill parent, then they
were laid off two months later,
and then they had a personal health problem. They talk about their life
as if it was a series of unfortunate events. And even if those events
were out of the person’s control, all that negativity can be worrisome.
Or maybe I just don’t want to bring their bad voodoo into the company.
Really, I just feel like I’ll spend the next few years feeling sorry for
them instead of managing them.”
The Takeaway
Yes, bad luck can happen to good people, but airing your dirty
laundry in an interview never got anyone ahead. The bottom line is that
you can’t expect a hiring manager to have time or energy to deal with
your personal life, especially before you’ve even proven yourself.
Remember: They’re looking for someone to make their job easier, and for
someone who knows how to work through problems as they crop up. Save
your sad tales for your most sympathetic friend and put your best face
forward in a job search.
5. Neglecting Your Body Language
“Once you’ve done this for a while, you have an ability to read
people by their behavior,” says Deb Niezer, COO of AALCO Distributing.
“You look at body language, the way they speak, and the way they present
themselves to show the whole picture. If they say, ‘I’m open to new
ideas,’ but then sit with their arms and legs crossed, it’s
questionable. If they say they have management skills but don’t carry
themselves like leaders, it’s hard to trust that assertion. The details
make the difference.”
The Takeaway
It’s not enough to talk the talk. Seasoned managers hear a lot of the
same answers from prospective employees, so they have to look beyond
the rhetoric to find people who really fit in with the company culture.
That’s why professionals like Niezer pay attention to the subtler
details, like how you carry yourself.
6. Dissing Your Colleagues
“For anyone looking to work in academia, it’s more about inspiring
students or faculty than pleasing a boss,” explains the dean of a
popular university. “Instead of talking about previous managers, I ask
questions about how people manage those who work under them. One
applicant said all the right things about working with other faculty
members and the school administration, but when it came to talking about
students, the applicant was dismissive, as if that was the last thing
to worry about.”
The Takeaway
Anyone interested in management should realize that a reference from
your assistant is just as important as a reference from your boss.
Employers want to know that a boss can inspire the best from their
workforce. Consider getting LinkedIn references from co-workers
at your level and below, or listing someone at a similar level to you
as a reference. And remember—you just might be working for them someday.
7. Lacking Confidence
“I remember a great candidate who went to an amazing school and had all the skills we would need, but she just reeked of desperation,”
recalls Aaron Sapp, an attorney in the midwest. “Any and every job, she
was ready to do. Whatever the pay, she was willing to take it. It
seemed like she didn’t have any confidence in her work. It feels a
little bad, because you get the idea that she really needed the job, but
at the same time, I don’t have the time to hold anyone’s hand or assure
them that they were doing a good job. I look for people who know their
worth and ask for it.”
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