Finding out why you weren’t hired

Dear Bob …

I’ve been interviewing for a position with an organization for quite some time now. I have the knowledge and the passion but I lack the experience. I have been on five interviews for different variations of the same position. Each time, I display myself as the top candidate and I have the backing of members of the organization behind me.

Unfortunately, I have yet to be offered a position. I keep getting squeezed out in the last round and sometimes not even offered to participate in the last round. I have assurance from many different sources that I have been viewed as the top candidate. I just don’t understand what’s wrong.

My solution is to email the Director of HR and ask for feedback on my interviews. The last interview took place a couple of weeks ago. I have given time for the transition of the new employee to take place and I think it’s a good time to ask for feedback.

My question then becomes, how do I properly ask for that feedback? I’m not sure how to properly phrase the email to ensure them that I don’t want to viewed as hostile, I would just like an understanding of why I haven’t been chosen so that I can properly adjust future interviews.

Thanks for your help.

-Left Out

Dear Left out …

What’s happening is simple. Most hiring managers are averse to risk, and there’s little riskier than a bad hiring decision.

When you interview well, the interviewers learn how you say you’d handle various situations. The more persuasive you are, the more highly they’ll rank you.

Experience demonstrates how well you actually handle these situations. And no matter how smart you are about what you think you should do in a situation, living through interesting times adds depth, dimension and nuance to even the best-thought-out theories.

It’s akin to the old joke about the couple who had their first infant, opened a bottle of champagne, and toasted the last moment they’d ever be certain about how to raise a child for the rest of their lives.

This leaves you in a classic dilemma: You can’t get the job without experience, and can’t get the experience without a job.

The solution has two parts. The first is to continue to apply for open positions in your chosen field. The second is to find a non-profit organization that needs what you do and whose mission you believe in. Volunteer, do great work for them, and gain the experience you need for a paying job at the same time.

If you have the financial resources to do this, it’s a win all the way around.

Now, to answer the question you asked: (1) Don’t e-mail; (2) don’t contact the head of HR at all. This is because:

• E-mail is easy to ignore, and is impersonal besides.

• The head of HR doesn’t know why you weren’t chosen, and almost certainly doesn’t care, unless you were applying for a job in HR.

From your interviews, you certainly met the hiring manager. That’s who you call. On the telephone. To make an appointment.

So far as how to not sound hostile, that’s also easy: Don’t sound hostile. “I appreciate the time you took with me during the interviewing process. I understand another candidate beat me out for the position. I wonder if you could give me another half hour of your time, to help me learn how to do a better job in my next interview.”

If this sounds simple, it’s because there’s nothing complicated about it. Always remember — you’re applying with an organization, but you’re interviewing and getting hired (or not) by people. Treat the people as human beings, not as roles and titles, and everything falls into place.

– Bob