Rejected for a job - would love to hear advice from a recruiter

20 Comments

1. AnonymousOctober 8,2024 at 12:36PM UTC

   I'm not a recruiter but have sat in on many interviews and the follow up meetings to discuss candidates.

   With that said, I've had some managers want to interview candidates anyway thinking they'll pull more than what's strictly stated on the resume. It could be that ultimately, they decided it would take too much time to get you up to speed.

2. AnonymousOctober 8,2024 at 1:36PM UTC

   Thanks for this, it makes total sense.

3. AnonymousOctober 8,2024 at 12:52PM UTC

   As a former tech hiring manager, I have interviewed people with less than the stated requirements because I was willing to accept someone I felt was trainable and ambitious. However, as the candidate pool got bigger, some with the exact expertise I needed applied and eventually got the job. Interviewing is a competition, and the one who checks off the most boxes will generally get the job. Personality and ambition can only take you so far and are typically tie-breakers for those with the same number of boxes checked. It often comes down to how much money they want, but in my case, I was willing to take a chance on someone who demanded more if the skillset was there.

4. AnonymousOctober 8,2024 at 1:36PM UTC

   Thanks, I appreciate your perspective here.

5. AnonymousOctober 8,2024 at 1:07PM UTC

   IMO, there's a major difference from sharing you've not done L&D in this specific area and not being prepared to speak to it. Meaning, did you prepare to connect what you've done with what your thoughts are on tech team training programs? Did you familiarize yourself with what could be the 'it' of tech now and how to speak to it. Showing you've researched to show you're able to connect your experience to another field, even if you've not done it prior, could have been your miss. Not high level share, but provide a clear path of a thought leader. I can see why they brought you in, I would have looked for what I mentioned. Moving forward, as your snapshot doesn't show you prepared like this, I would suggest doing that. It's not mis-representing, it's connecting to another field. That is so important. Good luck.

6. AnonymousOctober 8,2024 at 1:35PM UTC

   Thank you, I appreciate your perspective. I did my best to connect with it; even taking some LinkedIn Learning courses on coding languages and AI. Interestingly, I wasn't asked any questions about it.

7. AnonymousOctober 9,2024 at 1:16PM UTC

   I would think you would have brought that into your answers, to be honest. It's a tough field, I'm sure you did better than you think, and that the candidate pool may have had already experienced candidates. Keep at it.

8. AnonymousOctober 9,2024 at 4:16PM UTC

   Thank you!

9. AnonymousOctober 8,2024 at 4:15PM UTC

   I run talent teams. Just an FYI - You may never know why they rejected you.

   It could be one of many things.

   The HM wanted to test the market liked most of your background and decided to interview you. Your interview went okay but you fell short of their expectations, and during the conversation they realized that you just did not fit what they wanted. They might have only had folks with no technical experience and are selecting from a pool that had limited experience and liked you enough to give you a shot.

   It could also be that the recruiter put you into the mix- that is their job, and often they have to convince the HM to talk to people - my team does that constantly. But, alas you did not meet the bar. Perhaps they have time to wait to find just the perfect person.

   I would take it as a positive experience that you got through the process. If you have not use this situation to reflect on how you might have responded differently that could have kept you in the running.

   You could have used an example of how you did work with engineers to solve something. IE: When the engineering team brought in the last new technical tool, I put together a draft of a program and worked with a 3rd party company that had depth of experience in XYZ. We trained 30 engineers to gain knowledge in that tool and they were up and running in less that 2 weeks. Now that we did it once I have further developed that into a fully fledged program now that we have the knowledge in house. And we get to use it for the next wave of trainees we have.

   See how that makes it positive instead of I never have done this. It 's a way to show how you had nothing but still made things happen.

   I would write a nice note to the HM at that company and let them know that you appreciated them considering you and you hope that should they reconsider your candidacy that you hope you can show them how you would tackle a specific project for them. When you go into an interview with a company and you know you have a gap in skills, going in with a presumptive sample of how you would do something (as if you were already in the drivers seat) can often tip the scales in their interest.

   I hope this helps you some, the right place for you IS out there!

10. AnonymousOctober 9,2024 at 8:02AM UTC

    Thank you, I appreciate the detailed response. I know that all interviews are hit and miss; I've had a lot of rejections recently and it's just par for the course. I'm in Dublin, Ireland, and the job market is extraordinarily competitive at the moment.

    I guess I just thought it was strange that I got all the way through to the final round only to be told I don't have enough tech experience. From my perspective, it frankly seems like a waste of time. The interview with the hiring manager went really well and I emailed her my work samples. After that, I had to speak to 4 people over a period of two days; two 45 minute interviews and two 30 minute interviews. It was hard to not get my hopes up!

    I do appreciate your perspective and thoughtful reply. I was wondering if it was worth responding to the recruiter; she did offer a call if I wanted to discuss the feedback in more detail.

11. AnonymousOctober 9,2024 at 3:00PM UTC

    I'm the OP above, yes do speak to the recruiter. When you get on the call listen to the feedback that they give you and also write down everything they say. I am sure when you are on the call your emotions about the loss will run high so you are more likely to be able to consume it once you re-read it later and dissect changes that might have led to a different outcome. You always want to get detailed feedback even if it is negative. If you get negative information take it to heart if it is fixable but you may also find out things that make you no longer interested in that employer. I worked and hired a lot in Dublin so I know how competitive it is right now. It's like it is here in the SF Bay area and tech is really competitive if you are in that field.

    When you get the information that the recruiter wants to share also ask if you would be considered by them in the future or if you are universally rejected. Perhaps they can help you to find other roles there that you would be considered for. Many good recruiters advocate for candidates and you are now known by them. If they "spent" (think positively instead of wasted) time assessing you through many interviews they do see your value and you just have to find the pocket with them that you will fit. Keep us posted here if you get another go at them!

12. AnonymousOctober 9,2024 at 4:15PM UTC

    Thanks so much - this is very helpful! I will schedule some time with her. She did mention that they were impressed with my experience and would love to consider me for future roles, but I kind of thought that's something they say to everyone.

13. AnonymousOctober 10,2024 at 3:48PM UTC

    I would say nope! They are sincere in their accolades toward you, keep pushing in they are showing you the love! (op above again)

14. AnonymousOctober 9,2024 at 7:21PM UTC

    I work in learning and development for a highly technical product. It may be that they liked you, but after speaking to you and considering you candidacy more closely (post-interview) they realized they did not have the means to support you as you on-ramp to a highly technical product. Or it may be simply someone with a similar profile but more technical experience was the other candidate. Both of these things are often determined in an interview level. You never know the profile of the other candidates and the hiring manager may not fully think through what the on-ramp looks like until they have narrowed down candidates to 2-3s.

    And as a former engineer myself, I can tell you that there are a lot of engineers in these roles these days, especially with the job market.

15. AnonymousOctober 10,2024 at 2:13PM UTC

    That's really helpful, thank you for the insight.

16. Yolanda ThompsonOctober 10,2024 at 12:12AM UTC

    I hate when they do that!

17. AnonymousOctober 10,2024 at 1:20PM UTC

    You must have had very strong skills other than the technical skills. They were clearly impressed.

    A group of job candidates should not all be the exact same in skill set. They should vary a bit. As you go through the process it becomes more clear just who fits. Sometimes you need to consider many options in skill, expertise and personality. It's not black and white.

    Consider the fact that you were a compelling enough candidate that you deserved a second and third discussion.

18. AnonymousOctober 10,2024 at 8:17PM UTC

    Remember this, just because someone recruits you or interviews you doesn't mean they are good at it. They shouldn't have put you through a mass amount of interviews if you were not a good fit. Someone was probably trying to fill their quota for the week and you were the scapegoat. If you are not a good fit, reject the interview requests. Save yourself time and heart ache. BUT know this, some companies will bring in a new person without all the skills as they want people from different perspectives who can learn. I'm getting a new boss with absolutely zero experience in my field. And probably expected to train them. They have a learning curve, told us in the interview but higher ups don't care, they want a warm body to fill it. It's a shame people are throwing people in jobs that do not fit. I think for now, focus on jobs you do fit and leave the bad interviewers behind.

19. Joan Williams, Senior Talent Acquisition SpecialistOctober 11,2024 at 4:42AM UTC

    You know how jobseekers are always saying you can't know everything a candidate can do just from looking at their resume?

    This scenario seems to be exactly what so many jobseekers are always saying they want to happen. If they would just give me a chance to interview.

    You obviously have at least part of what they were looking for - otherwise the recruiter wouldn't have reached out to you in the first place and would not have moved you forward to speak with the hiring manager.

    In your post, you seem to feel that they wasted your time. Didn't they give you an opportunity to make your case?

20. Kris WolframOctober 13,2024 at 12:58PM UTC

    They found someone

    more qualified