This time around you prepared well for the interview, but still didn’t get through, whereas your friend who was not half qualified and prepared as you, bagged the job.
Disappointed and frustrated?
Wondering what went wrong and how come your friend who just tagged along with you for this interview without any preparation landed up at this job?
The truth behind this is the talent, though you might find it hard to believe, but that is the bitter truth that you will have to digest.
Now, in order to have a feel good sentiment, you can think that the interview process is rigged and they are hiring their relatives to fill up the positions.
But, if you talk to the recruiter, then you will understand why they have selected someone else over you. This will also help you in improving your interview skills.
Why Low Qualified Candidate Got Hired?
Something must have gone wrong somewhere and if you really want to find out what and why someone else got the ob you deserve, then you must start with retrospection of your performance starting from your resume.
1. Lost the race due to resume:
Your interviewer knows you through your resume. You are not the only candidate; therefore, it is not possible for him to gather information about you on a personal level.
So, while you are preparing your resume, you must keep that point in mind. You can take the help of cover letter to highlight your skills and strengths, which will also help you in selling your talent without diluting anything.
2. Likeability factor:
How would you make the interviewer start liking you?
The selection of words along with proper placement of the words on your resume plays an important factor.
You will have to highlight what your achievements and how experienced you are. The more experienced you are, the more polished your choice of words must be.
3. Looking good or not:
Some people don’t pay enough attention to what they wear, instead they end up investing all their time in preparing for the interview questions.
What most of them forget is that even before they open their mouth, the candidate’s appearance will do a lot of talking on behalf of themselves. Therefore, they need to take care about how they look as well.
The knowledge about company culture won’t suffice, if you do not try to match up the company culture with your dress sense as well. If you look like you are out of place, then most probably, you would lose out on brownie points, no matter how qualified or experienced you may be.
4. Didn’t liked the salary that was being offered:
You love the role that you are being offered, but the problem is that the salary that was being offered was not what you thought of.
You bargained and that was what went against you. We all know bargaining a little bit is okay, but if you go overboard, then it is definitely a red flag situation.
So, don’t think that as you are highly qualified and is also a suitable candidate for the job position you can ask any amount you want, and they will have to offer you that.
No, that is not how things work, therefore, the next time you appear for an interview; don’t prod too much on the salary issue.
5. Firm handshake:
The initial handshake must be firm. If you have sweaty hands or have a limp handshake, then it will give out the wrong signals about you, which is not what you want, right?
6. Add some spark:
The recruiters who have gathered information about you, is doing that for other people as well. So, how do you add that little something, which will make the recruiter sit and take notice of you?
If you are an engineer, then you can add some links, which will take them straight to the model you have created or if you have applied for PR position, then a witty one liner will help you stand apart in the crowd.
7. Your profile photo might have taken you down:
Now when you are doing all the research about the company where you have applied for, then why do you think that the company won’t look for you or Google about you?
The recruiter Google your name and if they find any negative vibes about you, then even before they meet you in person, they already have formed a negative impression about you.
Therefore, when you are applying for a job, it is important that you remove all kinds of images and comments that might go against you.
8. Correct the attitude you have:
You can land yourself almost any kind of job, if your attitude is correct. But, if you do not get it right, then it is obvious that nobody will consider you as the right candidate.
You must not greet your interviewers with smoker’s breath because it is not the right thing to do.
These are some of the things that can be easily corrected, if you want to and these silly things might have made all the difference between you and the candidate who got selected for the job.
9. They might require some less experienced one:
In some places, your years of experience might be the reason why you didn’t get selected.
Some companies believe that hiring someone with less experience and training them is much easier and fruitful than hiring someone with experience.
You can mold soft and wet clay easily and candidates who are not perfect can be trained and brought to that level easily, therefore, it seems that your perfection has turned out to be your own enemy.
10. Don’t be a brag:
The talented people who didn’t get the job might have come across as someone who brags and is self centered. If you come across as a liar, then there are very little chances that you will get hired for a position even when you have the qualification.
Conclusion:
So, these are some of the factors that might have made all the difference. The person who was less qualified must have given all the right answers and behaved in just the right manner and wearing the right attire.
Therefore, if you have just got rejected in an interview and a less qualified person have been selected for the position, then go over the whole interview process right from the beginning in your mind and see where you went wrong.
