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Met all the job requirements but the recruiter said I was not a match

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Met all the job requirements but the recruiter said I was not a match

I recently applied for a role where I met all the requirements. I added the keywords carefully and made sure to highlight them. My friend referred me and the recruiter contacted me. Instead of interviewing me and asking me my technical experience she said, "You come highly recommended from [friend] but are clearly not a fit for the role. We are looking for someone with different experience." She then listed things that were not in the job description or even related to the job description -- AT ALL. I was a bit stunned and responded that I did have technical skills like Python that were listed as a priority. She responded she needed someone to model data, not work with Python and SQL. At that point, I thought I may have been punked, not least of all because I had listed data modeling as one of my strengths and, well, Python and SQL are VERY data-related and were listed as must-haves. She also had not mentioned data modeling on the phone, even though she just described what she was looking for.

I ended up just getting off the phone and feeling a bit demoralized. But I keep recalling the conversation in my head. I wish I had not been so passive, but arguing with her seemed futile. It seems like she was just making an obligatory call because it was a referral.

But what should I have done? And what can I proactively do? I am planning on contacting my alumni office to get a resume review to make sure I am not sending out the wrong vibes but I can't get this contact out of my head.

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  1. Anonymous

    I am guessing that the job was posted as a requirement because the company intends to hire an internal candidate. Many companies and industries have a requirement that jobs be posted externally before they can hire from within. It is possible your friend that referred you did not even know this. This is one of those unfortunate things that you cannot see when you apply, and there is nothing you could have done. It is best to move on to the next opportunity.

  2. Anonymous

    I agree with the other commenter and (sometimes) they give an excuse about why not hired just to close the matter and not state the true situation, that they had someone else for the position in mind but needed to make their legal quota. But a resume review would not harm. Good luck elsewhere and please note that trying hard will soon pay off.

  3. Anonymous

    Clearly they have someone else in mind for the role and used this approach to disqualify you. It could be a million different reasons why they were looking to disqualify you. None of which had anything to do with you personally. Not a single thing.

    So when these things happen, while it's great to check yourself, make sure not to accept what's not your's.

  4. Anonymous

    They definitely should have put what they were looking for in the job description. But job-hunting is not a process of “meets requirements, gets job” or even “meets requirements, gets interview.” Nothing is certain even if you check all the boxes with your resume.

  5. GirlBossanova934974

    First off, I am not sure the recruiter even knows what "data modeling" is or could even tell you anything about it.
    So she was probably just grasping for words. Second, data modeling should have been on or near the top of the job description so again, it's a recruiter or a company issue aka someone at the company goofed. Third, data modeling is different than SQL/Python. With data modeling, it is assumed you are building the database from scratch. You are creating the physical/logical models that the database runs off of. aka how the database tables are derived. You have to start with an "Entity Relationship Diagram which you can derive from various stakeholders and then figure out your database SCHEMA aka fact and dimension tables. Typically, this is done by a tool called ERWIN. I have used ERWIN in the past. FRANKLY, I don't see many of these database modeling jobs around anymore. Most companies already have an existing database platform be it old or new. That being said, I would not too excited or not excited about this role you applied for. There are a HUNDRED times more jobs that pay quite well with good SQL and Python skills.

  6. Anonymous

    Thanks for your reply. I understand Python and SQL knowledge are not the same thing as data modeling, I just found it weird that she did not seem to think Python and SQL were important for a data job (when it was listed as a must-have) and that she did not notice that I ALSO had experience in data modeling, which was clearly mentioned in my resume and also listed as a must-have. In fact the person who referred me and I actually learned data modeling together and he is now using it in his current role. But, I did not mean to suggest they were the same thing. Sorry for the lack of precision! But in any event, I did dodge a bullet for sure.

  7. GirlBossanova934974

    I think you have explained the issue here. Just to be candid, most recruiters could not tell you the difference between data modeling and a ham sandwich! So in the future, you have to be very clear on your resume to put that skillset in big bold blazing letters that you have this skillset which is evidenced by Project X which you did for Y years using Z tool (ERWIN for example). "I constructed a Sales Marketing Data-Lake with 4 fact tables and 80 dimension tables with a full logical model designed in ERWIN. Met with Sales and Marketing reps to construct Entity Relationship Diagram" is what might suffice.

  8. Anonymous

    Nothing you can do. If they’re not even letting you phone screen they just don’t want you. It sucks.

  9. sfbay

    Unfortunately, some recruiters are not qualified to screen applicants. But they are the gatekeepers. I wish more companies would listen in on some of these conversations. I think leadership would be appalled. Lots of great candidates do not make it through this first hurdle. It can be demoralizing, but move on. Not worth your time.

  10. Anonymous

    Some? Try most of them.

  11. Anonymous

    Agreed ?. I recently had the experience of the owner of a recruiting company calling to reach out to me asking that I reconsider a position after the screener spoke to me and sent the thank you no thank you follow up email. This was after one of their people reached out and had a conversation with me and asked if they could forward my name. I opted out with the owner since I hadn't been searching anyway but was very turned off. The interesting thing is that almost a year later the position hasn't been filled.

  12. Katheryn M

    Unfortunately, it's too late now. Maybe they were required to interview you as a referral but had already made up their minds about who they wanted to hire so they used your experience not fitting as an excuse. It happens.

    However, I think you could have been a little bit more assertive.

    Something like "I'm really confused because my skills and experience match the job listing extremely well, but what you just described was completely different from the job posting. I feel like both my time and your time were wasted by not communicating the job description clearly. "

  13. Anonymous

    Oh, I like that! Yep, it is too late now but that is a great response to practice for the (hopefully never) next time!)

  14. Anonymous

    UGH! This seems like a case in which they've already decided on who they're hiring (could even be an internal candidate or existing freelancer). Or, she's just trolling for resumes. If you're interested in this company, you'll have to let it go. If you don't care to work with them in the future, send a follow up very professionally wording what you wish you said. I suspect that recruiter doesn't know sh*t about what you do or what they're potentially looking for.

  15. Shawna Adams

    Most companies post a job internally for a period of time to allow for current employees to respond prior to opening the position up externally. Perhaps the recruiter misunderstood what they were looking for or was confused with another position that is open? There are a lot of possibilities here. Better not to guess. I would go back to the person who recommended you for the position and ask for their opinion. If your friend currently works for the company, perhaps they pass your resume to the hiring manager themselves.

  16. Mathieu Dutour

    Recruiters are like that. They are inconsistent but they are very useful for finding jobs. It is essential to be very professional with them and respect them. As I understand they only get paid once a contract is signed.

    Regarding data modeling and python/Ssl, it is true that they are related. However, they are foundational skills. It is a little bit like English for lawyers, lawyers have excellent English skills but they know more than that.

    if you want to get into data modeling then you cannot go wrong by going with Sckikit learn. It has very good documentation and is an easy to use python library. After that there are many possibilities, keep in mind that all the stuff about Ai is related to that. So, the sky is the limit.

  17. Anonymous

    I'd just move on. Doesn't sound like a good place to work if they don't know what they want.

  18. Anonymous

    I'm not saying this is the situation, but perhaps your friend was not perceived to be a good reference? Also, some companies are leery of references for whatever reason. I agree with the lady who wrote below- move on. Don't over think this. It isn't you, it really is them.

  19. Anonymous

    Let it go. Do you really want to work for a company like that?

  20. thumpertrax

    To me, this sounds like She didn't have "you" in mind no matter what skills you had but rather had her own pick for this role. Maybe someone she already knew or was her choice. Sad but true that some Managers are not in it for the best of the company but who they can socialize with and that may be a part of this. Besides, it's her loss and don't feel bad, just move on to the chance with a much better Supervisor/Manager. Good Luck!

  21. Anonymous

    The resume will get you the interview..

    The PERSON will gets the offer - job. Perhaps the recruiter found someone who better fits the culture, didn't have an attitude of entitlement, etc. Skills are great but the "person" MUST be a good fit. As a recruiter I see this frequently. I'll submit candidates with better resumes but a different candidate I send "connects" with the hiring manager. Sometimes it is for the most benign reasons that have nothing whatsoever to do with the actual job requirements. It's not about right or wrong. It's simply how it and the world works. Good luck in your job search.

  22. Ashton King-Kon

    That's a really NOT Neuroinclusive approach to business, HR and Recruiting. It's becoming more important than ever to have diversity on your team and be inclusive of all Neurodivergent persons - which means differences in personality. If all you do is take people who connect with the rest of the team you are building a literal "clique" culture that's not maintaining proper ideals of inclusivity and diversion which is about alot more than just skin colour or religion

  23. Anonymous

    On the whole resume vs interview presentation is difference in getting the job, I agree with that. But the person was stopped at the door and the recruiter/HR rep or company even sounds like a bad fit for finding quality people. Why call the person to tell them they are not a fit? A form email/letter would have sufficed and been less contentious.

    To the original poster, I get this was frustrating but at this moment this does not sound like a great environment. It happens all the time and yes it is a bad showing for the employer. It happens in my segment where we have to interview to go on different customer contracts. Sometimes those interviews are with a different company that owns the contract with the customer, sometimes it is with a coworker from my own company. I have had it happen to me from a coworker. My management used me to force the customer to allow them to put another candidate on the contract b/c that coworker was refusing all candidates. It was the same darn thing of the listing didn't have the requirements and the person used them as the reason to refuse me. I quite literally had those items on my resume and the person never mentioned them in the interview to talk over what experience do I have in those things. Don't take it personally and I know it seems defeating but you will find a good match. Hang in there!

  24. Anonymous

    It is unfortunate. I recently applied for a job that is literally the job that I do now. When I say this, I mean that everything in the posting is something that I have done for years, and am very good at it. I did not even get an interview. My salary requirements were well within what was posted. I don't get it either.

  25. Anonymous

    This sounds like the recruiter and/or the hiring manager are quite simply not on the professional level you'd want.
    Firstly, they lied on the job description. Second, the recruiter didn't ask you questions. She just stated you're unqualified to do aspects of data analytics that you clearly are. The recruiter sounds unfamiliar with what skills she's recruiting for if she can't understand basics of data related duties. Odd, unprofessional, and an absolute waste of your time to have an interview where she just tells you "no." You dodged a bullet.

    There's nothing you can do to match job descriptions that aren't put on the job description, but when someone doubts your qualifications during an interview, you can always politely counter the accusation and provide examples of your skillsets.

    Look on glassdoor and other review sites beforehand to see if people have had similar odd or unprofessional experiences interviewing at the company. This was a blessing in disguise though-- I wouldn't want to work for a company that seems shady right from the get go.

  26. Anonymous

    You could wait a few weeks then post about this experience on job review sites to warn others about this time wasting experience. Nothing you can do about a company lying on a job description or not asking you questions about your other skills during an interview. But you can tell others about it so they're aware and protected.

  27. Robin

    This ?

  28. Anonymous

    What is your question?

  29. Anonymous

    Ask your friend for the contact information of her manager/ceo/ or department head then report her.
    If this does not work, immediately write a review of your experience on google/indeed/ glassdoor as they do read these items.

  30. Amy Miller, Psy.D. - Career Coach

    It sounds like something else is going on besides the facts she is giving you. If there is another way to get information you may want to try and find out if there is another reason they aren’t considering you. When I first read the headline I thought you were maybe being unrealistic about job searches (obviously not everyone gets every job they apply for) but after reading the story I see how frustrating it is not to be considered and not given a straight answer. Mostly if that’s the case that there is another mystery reason then i think you can let it go and move on. It seems like it may be a fluke and that your resume and overall process is fine. So go forward and good luck!

  31. Anonymous

    Dont take this personally, a lot of great insight of why this may have happened mentioned already. They already have someone, maybe your friend isnt a good reference , or a million other things. See what you can productively learn from it and move forward. Its not you.

  32. Amanda Haas

    Sadly this reminds me of an adjunct position I applied for a couple years back.
    It was for a small university in southern Utah. I was so excited because it was something in my field and at my level since I just graduated from grad school. But…instead of an interview, I was a lecture about adjunct work. He had all kinds of “reasons” from religion (Utah school) to the instability of the job. It was abhorrent. Why make a person drive all the way out in the summer in Nevada? It was bananas. Luckily, I saw an opportunity to explore a nearby slot canyon and shops in town. Some people are just unprofessional jerks. See this as a bullet dodged. And who knows if the recruiter was hired from an agency or doing contract work. It would at least explain the lack of knowledge on the position.

  33. R.A. Andrews

    Sorry that happened to you, but glad you were able to pull something positive out of it. I applied for an adjunct role and had experience teaching the subject at a different community college, to be told I was not qualified because I was 3 graduate hours short of the # of hours required for the position, but I was (magically) qualified to teach something I never taught before (because they could not staff it). Oy! It is a jungle out there, with the wild animals in charge.

  34. Anonymous

    It is very common for the job description posted online and the actual role to be vastly different. I don't know why they do this. Incompetence is my guess. You probably don't want to work for a place like that.

  35. Zeecil Kimmel

    I had a recruiter reach out to me regarding a role. I was not even looking for a job but I spoke to him for an hour and even explained things about the industry he did not know. After an hour he told me I needed to fix my resume because it was not screaming I knew anything about the industry to him. HUH? My resume clearly showed 16+ years of experience working for an industry leader and did I not just explain to him about the job he was recruiting for? I did not change my resume - I just moved on.

    Do not take personally what was obviously not meant to be.

  36. Arielle Vela

    I’m going through the same thing. I’ve applied to tons of jobs that I am qualified for/overqualified for due to my experience and skills but it’s just not enough for these roles. What’s funny is I ace all the interviews and then never receive a call back or say they went in another direction. I think the anonymous person below is correct, recruiters are the 1st face you see or talk to and if that’s how they represent their company then that’s not where you want to work. I understand that you’re probably actively looking for a role but I am too and I had a person be extremely rude to me in an interview and ask a very petty question and it took someone telling me to go with my gut feeling to realize that job was not for me (and they offered that job to me). Just they have the choice to choose you, you have the choice to say uhhh something’s not right here and hang up haha.

  37. Julie Jordan-Wade

    I've learned to read comments like "You're not a fit for the role" or "We decided to go with a more qualified candidate" as general code that, despite how qualified I may be, I simply was not the hiring team's first choice. It could be for any reason from ageism, racism, the assumption that my salary demands would be too high or that I'd "get bored" and wouldn't be loyal to the company. When this happens, I remind myself of this mantra: "If they don't want me, I don't want them," and I move on to the next application. Don't waste any time second guessing yourself, or wondering why they passed you up. Lately, my experience has been that of serving as the token outside interview. Meaning the company has already shoulder-tapped their chosen candidate from within, but HR rules require them to open up the job posting to outside candidates. It truly sucks, because it's a waste of my time, but I have no way of knowing that when I go to the interview. I only figured it out when they've called the next day to say they're hiring an internal candidate. They surely didn't make that decision so fast! All you can do is to make sure your resume reflects your skills and experience in the most current lingo possible. The resume review is a great idea! Be sure you're ready to answer those behavioral-based questions ( I have a stockpile of stories I use for each interview when those come up! You can re-use the same stories with different companies). Open yourself up to a possible industry change where your skills are adaptable to doing something new. Continue networking and asking friends, former coworkers if they know of anyone who's hiring someone with your skills and experience. It's amazing how friends tend to "forget" that you're unemployed! Keep the faith that the right fit will come along, because it will.

  38. Anonymous

    Don't take it personally. Maybe they already interviewed another candidate that they really liked and wanted to move forward with. It could be a multitude of things.

  39. Anonymous

    I think that the recruiter was telling you that the company had already decided who they wanted before the job was posted. That's sad, annoying, and a terrible way to operate.

  40. Milissa Jacobs

    It sounds like the job was filled and they had to post the job to follow standards in the company. I worked at Walmart for a very long time, and most of the time, the openings had been filled before the post was ever made. I am sorry, keep your chin up and know that the job you are supposed to have is still out there waiting.

  41. Anonymous

    Sounds like they just didn't Want to interview you because they were looking for reasons not to . Instead of just saying the job is filled .What was the point of taking you through that ? These recruiters are awful

  42. LORI-ANN BURLINGAME

    It's unfortunate but there seems to be a disconnect on more than one level. It may not be you, but your friend who referred you to the company. In addition, the recruiter should be looking for applicants that match the criteria specified by the hiring manager -- not making them up their own.

    You may be disappointed, but you may have dodged a bullet. Do you really want to work for a company that posted misleading job descriptions? To me, that's a lack of honesty.

  43. Anonymous

    I had a very similar thing happen to me. I saw a position at a company where 2 people I previously worked with work there now. I reached out to 1 of them and he contacted a recruiter that gave him instructions to pass along to me. I rewrote my resume to use the keywords specifically mentioned in the role, applied to the job, and used his name as a reference. Well, I didn't even get a call from the recruiter. I just received the automatic notification email that they are considering other candidates.

  44. Liz Milne

    Sadly, there's not a lot you *can' do - chalk it up as 'shit happens' and perhaps don't rely on that friend for any more recommendations?

  45. Elizabeth Hicks

    its possible its a fake posting and they know who they [plan to hire. happens all the time and its legal.

  46. Anonymous

    It’s more likely that the job description was not written to truly reflect what the hiring manager is looking especially as you mentioned that the recruiter listed things which were not in the job description

    This can happen when recruiters just accept the job descriptions that are given to them instead of updating so it’s more accurate

    This is my feedback as a recruiting professional with over 18 years of ex experience

  47. Kimberly Schuler Hall

    Trust me...they already had someone else on mind! They were just crossing Ts do as not to get sued.. Move on..it wasn't real...

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