Interview CSI: After You Get Rejected

My client had a very important interview coming up soon.

They had done a ton of research and preparation on their own already.?Made lots of notes about the job and company.?I was impressed.

We strategized.

They went to 2 interviews in the span of one week.?A good sign.

Then they received a rejection notice.?“We have decided to move forward with another candidate.”

My client was very disappointed.?Their confidence was crushed.?Their spirits had taken a hit.

What do you do when you are rejected? ?Move on.?Look forward.?Better luck next time.

No. ?Not so fast.

Analyze the interview experience and extract every bit of value you can to benefit you in the future.

What?

Value out of a failed interview??What value?

I wrote my candidate the following:

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1. The interviewer mentioned to you what the salary would be = $XX K which is $15 K more than the $NN K you’re currently making.?In the future when you are asked about your salary requirements, try to steer clear of mentioning $NN K, and say instead you were recently seriously interviewed for a $XX K job.?You can do this??Why not!

Lesson:?Use and reuse every bit of information you have available to your advantage.?Let nothing go to waste.

2. And you can compare future jobs you apply for against this $XX K job for salary and job requirements so you can make a better guess what a new job’s salary might be.

Lesson:?Use and reuse every bit of information you have available to your advantage.?Let nothing go to waste.

3. This is not to give you false hope, but even though the employer may have chosen a candidate, nothing is certain until the candidate is actually working for them day-to-day.?I have heard stories of candidates who were supposed to start working and quit the day before because they accepted a different job offer.?(The candidate was pursuing two or more offers at the same time.)?If the employer’s first choice doesn’t work out for them immediately, they may come back to you.

Lesson:?There is always hope.?But don’t let hope hold you back.

4. If you submitted your resume using the company’s ATS (applicant tracking system), you are now in their database.?Company recruiters and hiring managers do search their database for candidates when they have a new job position to fill.?Especially for candidates they have interviewed before.?In other words, someone in their company thought highly enough of these candidates to bring them in for an interview.?So a previous interview is sort of like a recommendation for you from someone internal in the company.?Even an unsuccessful interview.?How do I know this happens??This has happened to me.

Lesson:?Just by interviewing, you acquire advantages.?In many ways.?So even if you don’t get the job, you always gain something.

5. Now that you are in the company’s ATS database and they probably have an indication in there that you had interviewed well but didn’t get the job, search the company for other jobs you might apply for. And mention in your new applications or resume that you had interviewed well and really gained a new respect for the company. You are finding and using the positiveness in the failed interview to open new doors for you.

Lesson: Use and reuse every bit of information you have available to your advantage. Let nothing go to waste.

6. If you are still on good terms with the recruiter for your failed interview experience, contact them to ask if they will put in a good word for you for other jobs that you want to apply for at the same company.

Lesson: Use and reuse every bit of information you have available to your advantage. Let nothing go to waste.

7. I had suggested you should forward your impressive notes to the interviewers before your interviews with them.?You didn’t feel comfortable about doing this.?You thought they might reject you for being “pushy”.?So you declined to do it.?Maybe now you should forward those job notes to the interviewers to show them what an amazing candidate you were.?Make them have second-thoughts about rejecting you.?You have nothing to lose.?And if their chosen candidate quits, they may come back to you as mentioned above.

Lesson:?When you have nothing to lose is when you have the most freedom, power, and control.

8. The job description didn’t mention needing HTML skills but the hiring manager asked you about them during your interview.?So those skills were important to them.?Maybe they changed their mind about what they had wanted for the job from talking to previous candidates.?This happens.?I’ve had the experience of being the “previous candidate” and changing a few hiring managers’ minds.???

Lesson:?Be flexible.?Stay aware. Nothing is set in stone.

9. They knew they wanted someone with these skills, and they knew you didn’t have these skills from reading your resume.?But the hiring manager still wanted to interview you.?The question is why.?I think they were VERY impressed with your resume and wanted to meet you.?That’s how strong a candidate you were and still are.

Lesson:?Job search is like CSI.?Every clue tells us something.?????

10. The hiring manager realized that HTML was important AFTER the job description was advertised.?But they still included a hint buried in the job requirements list--?“Be familiar with web page technology” but not HTML by name.?So you now know to look for hidden clues like “web page technology“ or something similar in future job descriptions.

Lesson: Use and reuse every bit of information you have available to your advantage.?Let nothing go to waste.

11. And definitely take some more HTML and related short courses so you can mention HTML more prominently in your resume.

Lesson:?Translate clues into action.

12. When you do online job searches from now on, do some using “HTML” in the search terms.

Lesson:?Translate clues into action.

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After reading the above, my client said:?“I am going to keep the job search up full steam ahead. I’m very excited about this process”.

Something magical had happened.?Optimism out of ashes.

And a new appreciation of themselves.

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Another article about Interview CSI:

https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/interview-csi-mark-ikemoto