Thank you, but we’ve decided not to move forward with your candidacy
If you’ve been interviewing and waiting to hear back, that subject line undoubtedly made you let out another sigh of frustration. If so, I apologize! But that’s exactly the point I want to talk about: Job hunting and interviewing are frustrating endeavors.
There are a lot of frustrations during a job search: a drawn-out interview process, late interviewers, or getting ghosted. But I want to talk about a specific frustration: Rejection.
If you work in an industry that has a lot of demand but little supply, you can likely blink at a hiring manager and get the job. For the rest of us, it’s a bit more challenging.
I know firsthand because I recently went through it all. My latest job search took eight months. I applied to 76 jobs at 73 companies, went through 34 total interviews/projects at 17 of those companies, and got one offer. Meaning, I got rejected by 72 companies (ghosted by nearly half of them). That’s a success rate of 1.4%. One point four percent!
This isn’t to scare you, but to reaffirm that you’ll get a hundred nos for every yes, even if you have a lot of talent and experience. That’s just how it is. Companies draw themselves a mental picture of the perfect candidate that checks every single one of their boxes. And then they go hunting for that perfect candidate. Nine times out of ten, that perfect candidate isn’t you, and that’s ok.
Maybe you check nearly all their boxes, which is really good! You’d probably be a great fit at that company. But there might be another candidate that checks all their boxes, which means a rejection email in your inbox.
So my biggest piece of advice: Don’t get hung up on how well you think you did during the interview. Just be yourself and provide answers that are true to you. That’s all you can control. Other than that, it’s a complete crapshoot.
I’ve had interviews that went extremely well, making it to the final stages, only to be handed the dreaded rejection email. I’ve also had interviews that went horribly—like, so bad that I was close to calling it quits right in the middle of the interview to not waste anymore of their time. But lo and behold, I moved on to the next round.
I’ve even had interviews at different companies that were nearly identical—they asked the same questions and I provided the same answers. But I got rejected from one and moved onto the next round for the other.
My point is, it doesn’t matter how well or bad the interview went. You could answer all their questions perfectly and still not get the job.
There are a million reasons why you might get a rejection email, but you’re likely not one of them. In other words, there’s probably someone else who the employer thinks is a better fit for the role, whether it’s a skills fit, culture fit, experience fit, or something else. Sometimes it’s literally a coin flip, and other times a candidate just says the right thing at the right time. So don’t get too hung up on the “why” you were rejected. Don’t even think about it as getting “rejected,” but rather the company just picking someone else.
Sure, there are things you can screw up during the interview process that lead to a rejection. Maybe you bad-mouthed a former employer, failed to prepare for common questions, or undersold your experience and skills. During my search I was recruited for a content role and given a take-home project. Unfortunately, I didn’t follow directions very well. I did a great job showing off my skills, but not the right skills. Oops.
Think of those as learning opportunities so that you’ll do better during your next interview—every interview is good practice to make you better for the next one.
Basically, if you’re not selected for a job, don’t take it personally. Believe me: you’re the perfect candidate, but not for every company, and that’s completely normal.
Are you job hunting right now? Or have you recently job hunted? How’d it go? Was it as frustrating as you imagined? Or are you thinking about starting your job hunt? What are you nervous or excited about? Are you dreading it? Reply to this email and tell me all about it! And let me know if there's a topic you want to see in a future issue!
I’ll see you on August 11 for my next installment, where I’ll talk about the emotional roller coaster of starting a new job. In the meantime, forward this to a friend or family member if you think it’d help them, and feel free to follow me on Twitter or Instagram for my off-hours shenanigans.
----------
Happy Hour
Fun things I’m doing, TV shows and movies I’m watching, games I’m playing, music I’m listening to, and other neat stuff I want to share.
"Flying here is (surprisingly) legal" - There’s a small sliver of airspace over the Hudson River in Manhattan that’s completely uncontrolled. If you're into aviation, this video is a fascinating watch.
I’m making my way through season 3 of For All Mankind. It explores an alternate timeline where the Russians were the first to the moon, and the Mars race takes place in the 90s. It’s the only show that’s made me bawl my eyes out (Stranger Things season 4 is a close second). I highly recommend it.
I sold my secondary motorcycle (which I recently took up the coast one last time). I’m sad about it, but it’s given me more time to focus on my primary ride and make upgrades. Stay tuned.