Monday, June 19, 2006
When You Don't Get Hired & It's Not Your Fault!
Everyone understands disappointment but I don't believe anything causes a job candidate to lose confidence as much as submitting a great resume, sporting a good-looking interview outfit, holding a compelling interview, passing the drug test, learning that your references were called and then waiting... for the job offer that never comes.
Knowing you impressed a decision-maker only to wait for a call that never comes is an all-too familiar job search killer. What did you do wrong? Perhaps nothing. Where could you have done better? Perhaps nowhere.
If you thought you were a "sure thing" and nothing happened the following scenarios might explain why:
The hiring authority may have assumed a different position or exited the company completely and thus created a communication gap in the hiring process on a long-term or permanent basis. I have always compared this phenomenon to a breakdown of a company's "hiring nervous system" because the left hand can no longer transmit a message to the right hand. What is unfortunate is that any sensitivity to your job offer has gone numb.
The company implemented a corporate-wide hiring freeze. When companies such as Disney announce a hiring freeze headlines are made. But when smaller corporations or privately-held companies suddenly "freeze," their own employees may never be told, much less the candidate who's interview so impressed 24 hours before the announcement.
The CEO's nephew finally decided he wanted the job. While some companies have policies against hiring family members and relatives, just as many have open-door policies and are very likely to be faced with the potential inheritance of these folks due to their availability from layoffs. There is nothing a good candidate can do to outperform that nephew.
The lesson here is twofold. It may not have been your fault so don't beat yourself up! You may have been the perfect candidate in a particular hiring event but because of outside forces, you still may not get the job! If you have enough "irons in the fire" the realization that one isn't going to come through won't leave you quite so devastated and you will have other events for which to prepare. You'll also get hired sooner!
Knowing you impressed a decision-maker only to wait for a call that never comes is an all-too familiar job search killer. What did you do wrong? Perhaps nothing. Where could you have done better? Perhaps nowhere.
If you thought you were a "sure thing" and nothing happened the following scenarios might explain why:
The hiring authority may have assumed a different position or exited the company completely and thus created a communication gap in the hiring process on a long-term or permanent basis. I have always compared this phenomenon to a breakdown of a company's "hiring nervous system" because the left hand can no longer transmit a message to the right hand. What is unfortunate is that any sensitivity to your job offer has gone numb.
The company implemented a corporate-wide hiring freeze. When companies such as Disney announce a hiring freeze headlines are made. But when smaller corporations or privately-held companies suddenly "freeze," their own employees may never be told, much less the candidate who's interview so impressed 24 hours before the announcement.
The CEO's nephew finally decided he wanted the job. While some companies have policies against hiring family members and relatives, just as many have open-door policies and are very likely to be faced with the potential inheritance of these folks due to their availability from layoffs. There is nothing a good candidate can do to outperform that nephew.
The lesson here is twofold. It may not have been your fault so don't beat yourself up! You may have been the perfect candidate in a particular hiring event but because of outside forces, you still may not get the job! If you have enough "irons in the fire" the realization that one isn't going to come through won't leave you quite so devastated and you will have other events for which to prepare. You'll also get hired sooner!
