Top 10 reasons you did not get that job

Top 10 Reasons you did not get the Job!

I hear all the time from people, “I went to the Interview and Rocked it, so why did I not get the job offer”? There are many reasons that an individual did not receive a job offer. It has to do with everything from personality to how you look to even how you interview.  Make sure you are prepared when going to the interview, do your homework on the company and have a lot of good questions prepared to ask the interviewer.  Here are the top ten reasons you might not have been offered the job.

1. Appearance has so much to do with job offers. What you wear to the interview says a lot about who you are. Is your hair combed or still wind blown? Do you smell like the perfume counter at your local department store? Do you smell like last nights dinner?  There is a rumor going around that if you wore a yellow tie to the interview that could prevent you from being offered the job.
2. Have you ever considered the tone you have when you speak?  Does your voice resonate loudly? Do you have a soft voice? Maybe it is one of those annoying high squeaky voices. The tone you enter with will determine the outcome. Confidence is displayed not only by how you speak but how you look. Do you have eye contact? A confident handshake? Did you wait to sit down until they ask you to have a seat? The worst thing to do is interview in a bad mood or a depressed mood because this will show all over you and your face.
3. Ageism is not only sad but a reality.  One type of ageism is for the young of age. You go to college, study to learn how to fit into a career, graduate from college and have trouble getting a job. Why is that?  It has to do with age, maturity and experience. You studied but did you receive any practical experience while in college? Did you find an internship? Did you do volunteer work? Something to set you apart from the other students.
4. Ageism in reference to the older worker is also a reality. Ageism is illegal but it does happen especially since all 50 states have “at will employment” which means they can just not hire you and they do not have to give a reason.
5. Having your resume not up to par will also harm your chances.  There are individuals who blast out one resume to 1000 jobs, well not 1000 I hope, but they send the same resume out to many places and do not have it tailored to the place or position. If you send a resume out for a job opening make sure you have the necessary skills for the job.  If you are an auto mechanic do not send a resume out for a banking job with all your auto mechanic information on it. Make sure the experience matches the job.
6. There is currently a debate going on about cover letters. Some say you do not need them if your resume is up to par and perfect, I hold steadfast the belief that the cover letter is your first impression even before the first impression on the interview. The cover letter is a nice way of introducing yourself to the perspective employer while giving them all the skills you have that they desire for their future employee.
7. It is so important to make sure that you follow up with the interviewer. My equation for follow up is fairly simple. Immediately after the interview you go home, hand write a nice personalized Thank You note to each individual that interviewed you. That is the first and only needed contact for the next week. A week after call and leave a message if you have to or email if that has been your communication style before inquiring if there is anything else needed. Then the week after the call repeat the call/email scenario.  After that, it is definitely time to move on and keep looking. Do not call daily or every other day.  No employer wants a desperate job seeker.
8. One major reason individuals are not offered a position has to do with criminal background and credit checks.  It is becoming a trend on applications to have the small print above the signature discuss that a back ground check and credit check could be preformed. Also it states that by law, usually with a state code involved, that you have answered everything honestly.  I feel that most individuals who have made a mistake, paid their due, should have more possibilities because they know what they face if they steal, etc from a job.
9. One thing that can also prevent a job offer is what I call the employment bunny.  The individual who has had 6 jobs in 2 years because they hop from job to job.  An employer is going to want to see stability and experience in their future employee.  It leaves a bad taste in their mouth to see someone who has hopped from job to job.
10. Experience is the one thing an employer looks for. Can you do the job? Have you done the necessary requirements to do the job? Did your references give you a shining report? These are things that an employer will be looking for. Make sure you have the proper experience and schooling to land the job.

Finding a job is becoming more and more difficult, so many job boards are out there, and those are not including the 80% of hidden jobs. Make sure that you use many types of job search techniques from Job Boards, and professional networking sites, Just make sure you have a proper online presence so that does not prevent you from the job offer.   If you look back over the time you have been unemployed I am sure you can figure out why you have not received an offer. Practice, Practice, Practice to make sure you are ready and prepared for the job interview.

Perception is everything right?

Perception is everything right? That is what individuals hear from an early age. So how do we learn to perceive things? Growing up, perception is gained by what one sees and hears. The experiences one has in life and how they deal with them. In the world of employment there are many times and ways to perceive a situation.  It is never set on what the situation is but how the individual looks at it and perceives the situation. Reading and writing blogs has brought this lesson to the fore front. How do you perceive things? Is it the right perception?

Interestingly enough, humans actually speak words they read in their own heads, This could be due to making sure that there is an understanding of what is written. What happens when the reader is reading the written word to themselves and they get the wrong perception? Does the reader go back and try and figure the right perception out? Does the reader respond with the perception that they felt was right in the first place. Have you ever noticed that sometimes out in blog land that there are people responding to an original post, and they completely misread and misunderstand the intentions of the poster? Here are 5 areas that perception can be worked on to help an individual succeed.

1. Phone calls are always a way to test the understanding of perception. When someone calls you, can you tell how they are feeling or that something might be wrong. This is why most human beings answer the phone, say hello then ask “How are you? or What’s up”? When individuals are not really listening to the conversation, maybe due to distractions, watching TV, Driving the intent of the conversation can be lost and confusion can set in for one or both parties. Next time someone calls at work or home, practice turning the TV off, limiting distractions and see if the conversation goes better.
2. At work, co workers tend to chit chat at first arrival at work. That is not only a bonding experience, but it also allows to some communication work. How do you perceive your co-workers or co-workers from past jobs? Co-workers can be a great asset or a hung hindrance.  Can you feel it when tension is in the air, or a co-worker is mad at you? Humans are fascinating in this way. Individuals can walk in and perceive the tension so thick they could cut it with a knife. Practice communication at work to really understand what is being asked, try and rebuild any damaged relationships, or avoid the ones that have proven to destructive.
3. The wonderful World Wide Web, everyone seems to be on it, Facebook, Twitter, etc.  How do you perceive a persons Facebook page, do you know everyone on your Facebook personally, or do you have a subset of individuals who are on there to help your games progress. It is a common rule of thumb for employers to search Social Networking sites when thinking about hiring someone. What perception does your online presence give an employer? Remember the employer is going to hire someone who they perceive will best fit within the company’s structure. Employers will look around and think “Will this individual be a good face for this company? Do they have the ethics that will help this company succeed”? If they are looking at you photo’s on Facebook while you are doing a keg stand with a half twist jump kick, they will certainly pass you over due to that alone.
4. Email at work seems to be the best way to communicate to employees, although perception can play a huge role in how the task is completed. Email is a time saver most of the time; it is efficient in passing on communication. Like all written word perception is everything.  We read an email but do we truly understand what the other person is communicating? Do we understand the task being asked and the time frame it is needed?  Have you ever read an email and felt insulted?  Only to find out that that was not the intention of the sender, but the perception was already there.
5. The gut reaction, that first feeling you get when you see or meet someone. Do you take the time to listen to your gut?  Do you get that strong feeling that something is not right with that individual?  Ever been walking at night, turn to go down an alley, only to get that nervous feeling in the air that something is not right. That is perception at its best. The gut will tell you and others to proceed cautiously.  Employers will make every attempt to see if they need to move cautiously or even at all. This is where the interview process comes in. The employer is getting a perception of you and your skills from the get go.  Ever walked out of an interview thinking that you blew it, only to get a job offer? Ever walked out of an interview thinking “I aced it, I would hire me, only to find you blew it”?  This is the world of perception

Remember that in our daily events we have multiple opportunities to look at our perception, try to tailor it to help us succeed , or even help us fail if we allow the perception to continue without true understanding. Perception is not always right so check the facts and look at how you perceive things.