As I mention in another post, I recently had a friend who had an interview he thought went great. However, one or two months have passed since the interview and he still has yet to hear anything. Though it is possible something else might be going on behind the scenes—for example, a hiring freeze, or perhaps a very serious office-wide insect or rodent infestation—it is likely the interview did not go quite as well as my friend perceived. Sometimes there is what I call, a perception gap. That is, a situation in which two individuals share an experience, but walk away with completely divergent perceptions, or interpretations of the experience. Though it is important not to dwell on past interviewing mistakes, if after one or two months you do not hear from an employer after a fantastic interview, it is possible the interview did not go as well as you perceived.
Never afraid to shoot from the hip, U.S. News contributor Lindsay Olson recently put together a list of five reasons why my friend (or job seekers in the same position) may not have gotten the job.
- You sounded desperate. Though this reason might sound unfair, Lindsay Olson points out that employers want to “hire people who are passionate [and knowledgeable] about what they do and who want to work with them.” Simply applying to a job because it’s a job doesn’t suffice: if it seems like “you might seem willing to take anything you are offered” it’s “a big turnoff,” says Olson.
- You didn’t sell yourself. Olson explains that an interviewee must be part storyteller and part self-promoter. Explain why you are the best fit for a position. Olson suggests using the STAR method: “talk about situation, task, action, and results.” It is important that you not only tell them about your past professional successes, but also quantify them.
- You oversold yourself. There is a different between pride and vanity. Of this difference, Jane Austen observes in Pride and Prejudice, through the character of Mary Bennett, “Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us.” Though the former isn’t always something negative, the latter can certainly affect how you are viewed and treated by those around you. Olson warns, “There’s a fine line between confidence and arrogance—and crossing it is a deal breaker.”
- An employee referral or internal candidate popped up. Although internal candidates do not always have an advantage, Olson astutely notes, “If two candidates have a similar background and one comes with an internal referral, the company is more likely to take the safer path.”
- The job specifications changed. As Olson points out, sometimes hiring managers, as they are interviewing, either realize they were looking for the wrong kind of candidate or change the job description on the fly. Olson points out, “they sometimes recognize new priorities or goals that relate to the position, which may cause them to shift their hiring focus.”
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