Dear McCrabby,
I interviewed two weeks ago, and I'm perfect for this job. I finished somewhere in the top ten, but didn't get the job. I got a standard rejection letter ("great experience, yada yada yada") but no one will say why I wasn't picked.
McCrabby, I need some guidance. If I screwed up on something, I want to know why, so I won't make the same mistake...
Tearing up in Toledo
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Dear Tearing,
So, you got another form letter/email, where the employer told you that you "didn't get the job." How many does that make now? Can you wallpaper your office with them yet? OK it's a form letter; your credentials are impressive but they have hired another candidate.
You could look at the silver lining and at least be thankful they responded at all. Many won't. Many don't.
Why do you care anyway? You don't want to know why you weren't the selection, do you? Do you want to avoid some mistake you made in your last interview? Are you looking to fine-tune your technique, your resume, your cover letter? Could they give you some feedback that may help next time? Maybe, but probably not.
While it doesn't do much good to finish second in a job-search, McCrabby finished number-two a couple of times, for jobs that looked like great fun, and that he would have accepted, even though it paid about one third of what McCrabby made 4-5 years ago. On one in particular, even though McCrabby did NOT get the offer, he was appreciative of the hiring manager who did a little extra, went a little outside the norm, and ended up sending McCrabby three emails, after the rejection. McCrabby thought this was unique enough, that they should be shared:
The first email was a response to McCrabby's request to give feedback on the person selected "selected candidate has more that 15 years experience working directly with a similar engagement in a position almost identical to this one. We ended up having hundreds of applicants for the position and it was a very difficult process to narrow the search down to just a few final people and then ultimately one."
The second email requested a response that McCrabby would be willing to allow his resume to be sent to a peer organization who had another opening soon. McCrabby's first thought was that this is lip service.
Then, upon, McCrabby's OK of point #2, a third email came, expressing, "Thank you for allowing me to share your resume with another organization that I'm aware of that will be looking to hire someone soon. I feel that your past experience may be a great fit with them I sincerely believe that you have all of skills required, and among all of the people I met while interviewing, you stood out.
It was all lip-service, as no subsequent interview was ever requested, but at least this hiring manager was willing to reach out a little for someone that's searching. Maybe they tried - let's give them the benefit of the doubt. Someone must be decent in the hiring game.
This is unlike most responses you'll receive delivering the news that you didn't get the job: They're usually impersonal and don't offer any real information about why you came in second, or fourth, or 421st. They say that your resume is impressive, and that your talent is obvious, but apparently not impressive and obvious enough. How are job-seekers supposed to become better candidates when they can't get any feedback on their last job-attempt. Why won't they tall you why you lost? You can probably guess some reasons, but McCrabby has detailed out a few here.
- They don't give a s _ _ _ about you or anyone else, they're cold-hearted and uncaring. They don't have any common sense or empathy, and they're thoughtless. Ok, that may not apply to all hiring managers, but Crabby isn't crabby just for the heck of it.
- They fear lawsuits. Today, anyone can sue for anything, and if you watch the news, you must know that some of these lawsuits are ridiculous. If they respond to your requests, they might give you information that you could turn into something discriminatory, or twist into something illegal, and use against them. Crabby has never been that devious..... but maybe one "slip & fall" in the hiring manager's lobby, and we'd be set for life. Hmmmm; just thinking here.
- Maybe you were a jerk in the interview, flirted with the receptionist, made disparaging remarks about the girth of the president, or just couldn't string two sentences together without dropping a couple of f-bombs. Hiring managers don't want to deal with candidates who may get angry. They don't want to defend, and/or debate their decision. Even though you're arguing with the umpire here (how many umpire arguments result in a reversal of the decision?), even umpires try to avoid arguments when they can.
- They tried to tell you why you lost, tactfully, and you just didn't get it. Come on Jethro, listen!!!!
- They sent you an email, and it's in your spam folder. Look before you berate.
- They forgot; remind them... gently... once; then, if you don't get what you want, forget it.
- They didn't like you, and never want to have to deal with you again.
- They don't have the time. Notice in the exception above, the hiring manager had "hundreds" of resumes, did several interviews, and that was for a job that didn't pay well. If every hiring manager was to provide a thoughtful, individual reply, there'd be another job to be filled, just to handle that effort.
So, in your job search, stay flexible, stay persistent, and stay positive. Below, for inspiration, is a video of a young cape buffalo who didn't give up, and who used his support group. If you have eight minutes to spare, it's pretty unbelievable. (it has a happy ending)...
Good luck.
Don't forget to sign up on the left or here (where it says "join this site") so we can see your picture on this site. And follow us on twitter (@curtmacrae), where we don't post much, but we'd love to see you there. McCrabby has gotten hacked twice on Facebook, so we have left that site for good. Sorry...
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