Dear Stephen,
I recently interviewed for a sales position at a manufacturer. The interview lasted over an hour and I thought it went great. It's for an A&D sales rep job, like the one I have been doing at this company's competitor for 4 years now. I was recommended directly to this company from a client, a designer at Gensler, for this opening they have.
I interviewed with the Regional Manager over lunch, and she was engaging, and I can see myself working for her. She asked me great questions which I answered, and I had questions of my own. I shared some of my success stories and even dealer principals I thought I might give as references. I felt like the chemistry was good and at the end I politely closed her and told her I was interested in the job and that I looked forward to the next steps. She told me any "next steps" would involve a corporate HR recruiter who would need to interview me, then there was an assessment and some additional requirements, but one step at a time.
Then, a little over a week later I got a very nice email from her, well written and professional, but she said she was passing. She wished me well in my career and thanked me for my time. I was so surprised. I still am. I thought the interview went so well, there was a good flow to it, and she acted so attentive and interested. Where could I have gone wrong? I wonder what I could have done better. Or differently. And I guess there is just never a way to know.
My question is: have you ever heard of this — the interview goes great according to the candidate, but you do not get the job?
Signed,
Rejected!
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Dear Rejected:
I hear this story almost every day!
That is because smart managers know how to make the interview a positive experience for candidates, and you should not be able to read them. It's not your fault; it is just the way it is. Even if a hiring manager feels you are not right within 5 minutes of meeting you, they want to be courteous and respectful of the time you took to interview with them. The job of a professional manager is to make the best impression of their company to you during the interview.
Why? Well, you can end up at a dealer, or maybe a design firm (if you are a designer) or may even be a future customer. Maybe you are not right for the job now, but they may call you back a year from now. Their job is to represent their company's brand in the best light always. Not to be rude or challenging to you, and make you feel bad or unqualified by the end of the interview. Good managers understand the art of giving a good interview.
I appreciate some of this explanation may not make you feel any better for being rejected, but at least this answers your question as to why you could not "read" that during the interview.
And it's not the job of someone, or some company, to tell you why you were rejected. That rarely happens, and I know that is frustrating, but it is just the way it is.
Often it is just a matter that there is a more qualified candidate than you. Most candidates overlook that — their ego makes them want to know what they did wrong, and 9 times out of 10 they did nothing wrong; there is just someone who is a better fit for the specific position. It's logical that a person would want to know why they were rejected, but I have learned that it is counterproductive to give candidates specific reasons why they didn't get the job because it usually leads to long, unfulfilling, and inconclusive discussions. If I say the reason is you didn't have enough experience, the immediate comeback from the candidate may be "what do you mean, I've got 12 years experience, it's right on my resume." And then I try to explain, and they challenge my explanation, and so on, and so on. It never ends well.
So, dear rejected, there's no simple answer to your question (I wish there was — it would certainly make my job easier). Continue to go into interviews well prepared and with a positive attitude and you'll eventually get that job of your dreams.
Stephen