I was turned down for a job. Where did I go wrong and how can I improve?
6 replies, posted
Boo hoo, poor OP. Yeah, I know and I don't expect you to care or feel sorry for me. Millions of people are turned down for jobs all of the time and they move on with their life. I just want to know if there was anything I did wrong and how I can improve in the future. I have tried looking inwardly, but I can't help but feel as though I was a model candidate for the position.
Let me start by saying that I have three years of retail experience and a year of experience at an amusement park, both of which I'm still employed at. I always thought it would be fun to work at a book store, so I applied at a major book retailer (not going to say which one), upon discovering that they were hiring. After filling out an online application, I mailed in my resume and a cover letter (personal letter stating why I want to work for the company) to both their human resources department and to the store manager. A couple of days after mailing them my resume, I called them to follow up and they quickly set up an interview nine days ago.
I made certain to dress professionally, come prepared (pen and notebook in hand) and arrive early for the interview, which went incredibly well. The first interview was with the store manager who asked me the basic hiring questions. I think I answered the questions pretty well and I also used this opportunity to show that I had done a fair amount of research on his company and and even inquired about the company's stock (I even quoted the previous day's closing price, showing the depth of my research and my personal intellect).
Evidently my efforts paid off, as he asked me to stay for a second interview with a department manager. The interview with the department manager also went well and I managed to score some extra points when answering a question about the last book I read (a Star Wars book), because apparently the department manager claimed to be a really big geek too and loved Star Wars. I also answered all of her questions and was fairly professional.
In both interviews I was very confident (possibly too confident) and drew upon my experiences over the last three years working retail. Shortly after the interview, I wrote and mailed "thank you" cards addressed to both of my interviewers. In the carefully hand-written cards, I personally thanked the interviewers for their time and for the opportunity to work for the company. A couple of days after the interview two of my best friends contacted me and let me know that the store had called them and that they spoke highly of me.
A few days went by and I figured that I would get the job for certain, but I hadn't heard back from them. Last Thursday (about 5 days ago) I decided to call them and ask if I was still being considered for the position. They said that they were still contacting my references and were going to email me a form to fill out. I should note that the email address I gave them was my business email address, not my personal email address (so it wasn't because I had a silly username). After not receiving the form by Saturday, I called them again to confirm that they had my correct email address. I couldn't get hold of the hiring manager, but a store worker said he would write it down and pass it on to the hiring manager, in case they had the wrong email address on file.
It's Tuesday now and I still haven't received the email. I tried calling them yesterday to talk with the hiring manager (perhaps the worker forgot), but the same worker who said he would deliver the note answered the phone and said the hiring manager wasn't available. At this point I am treating it as though I didn't get the job. I don't mean to demonstrate the Dunning-Kruger effect, but I can't help but feel that I was an incredibly strong candidate and that I did everything right. To my knowledge the only major mark against me was my limited availability (due to college and my two other jobs), but they knew my availability before they even set up the interview and didn't seem to make a big deal out of it during either of the interviews.
Am I jumping to conclusions a bit early by automatically assuming I didn't get the job, just because I haven't received the email yet? And if I really didn't get the job, what did I do wrong? I've never seriously been turned down for a job before (except for once at Costco, but that was because they filled the position before my scheduled interview date). I am an extremely confident person and have three years of retail experience at the largest retailer in the world. I also had solid references from both my current employers and my friends, who verified that I am a hard-worker and a very determined individual. Can someone please shed some light on where I went wrong, so I can better myself in the future?
If you've gotten to a second interview, they likely would have notified you if you didn't get the position. It would be unprofessional to outright ignore you after stringing you so far along.
I'd hold out hope a little longer and see because like tomato said, that'd be pretty shitty of they just ignore you. The only thing I could think of that you may have done wrong is generally places really look down upon using friends as references. if I was an employer I would assume that the friends of the person applying would give an absolutely glowing reference regardless of how you actually work.
When I applied for my last job I used a lady I babysat for, my driver when I helped UPS, and someone else I'm forgetting. That would be silly if they refuse you just because of that but if you unfortunately have to put out more apps after this try and get some "professional" references from people that they would expect more of an honest answer from. A lot of places straight up put on their applications that friends and family references are not allowed.
Just my 2 cents. Good luck, dude.
[QUOTE=Waffle Boxes;47018993]I'd hold out hope a little longer and see because like tomato said, that'd be pretty shitty of they just ignore you. The only thing I could think of that you may have done wrong is generally places really look down upon using friends as references. if I was an employer I would assume that the friends of the person applying would give an absolutely glowing reference regardless of how you actually work.
When I applied for my last job I used a lady I babysat for, my driver when I helped UPS, and someone else I'm forgetting. That would be silly if they refuse you just because of that but if you unfortunately have to put out more apps after this try and get some "professional" references from people that they would expect more of an honest answer from. A lot of places straight up put on their applications that friends and family references are not allowed.
Just my 2 cents. Good luck, dude.[/QUOTE]
Thanks for the advice. I don't like to use friends as references either, but a lot of those same friends also work with me. Both of my friends who said they received calls are also Walmart employees, so they can evaluate me on both a personal and a professional basis. I hope you're right and I just need to give them more time. It's not that big of a deal if I don't get the job though, since I honestly only wanted the job to have fun, not because I need a third job.
You might still hear from them, but even if you truly did get passed over, I don't know what you expect us to tell you. None of us were included in that interview, so there's no way we could tell you where you might have went wrong, or even if you went wrong at all. This is a major retailer, and they have high turnaround. Maybe they decided that somebody else was a stronger candidate, maybe you weren't as charming as you thought, or maybe the position has been closed. Who knows? Not us.
They called this morning and offered me the job! I accepted and have orientation next Tuesday!
Bear in mind that sometimes they let candidates through even when they have a clear winner to show HR that they "considered everyone". Also as BDA said it can be tough to pinpoint it without knowing every detail.
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.