Let’s say you’ve just interviewed for a position which, objectively, you are “perfect” for:

• You have all the required skills, plus some skills the employer prefers.
• You have the proper educational background.
• You’ve previous experience in doing most of the tasks associated with the position.
• You have great references.

But you didn’t get the job. Why?

Read below for the top three reasons you probably didn’t land the job for which you’re fully qualified.

1. You criticized your last or current boss. You may have legitimate reasons to criticize an employer or supervisor. Truly legitimate and valid reasons. But to bash a boss or company in any way during a job interview casts you – not your boss – in a very bad light. At the very least you come across as a whiner. At the very most you come across as an angry, venom-spewing individual. No one wants to work with, let alone, hire someone like that. If asked why you want to leave your current employer and the real reason is because he or she is truly a jerk, don’t say so. Instead, you can say something along the lines of you’ve gone as far as you can with your current employer and are looking for new, upward opportunities.
2. It wasn’t the right job for you. You may not want to hear or think this because you really thought the job was a good fit. But you have to understand that the hiring manager thought another candidate would be better for this particular job. And the hiring manager was probably right: this wasn’t the right job for you. That means that you can still search for the job that is right for you.
3. You weren’t a good fit for the culture. This usually is the real reason someone who has all the skills (both required and preferred), has the educational background and who has worked in a similar position before doesn’t get a job. Perhaps the hiring manager asked you about the kind of working environment in which you thrive and you answered “one that’s open ended and allows me to do the job as I see fit so long as I deliver what my supervisor needs.” The hiring manager, knowing that that he likes to keep a close eye on how his employees work, figured you wouldn’t be happy working for him – and he wouldn’t be happy working with you – and so chose another candidate. He truly did you a favor because most people who leave a job in a few months do so not because they get fired or can’t do the job, but because they don’t fit into the corporate culture. And that makes for a very unhappy employee.

If you’ve been looking for work for a while in the New York City area and haven’t had much luck, contact the recruiters at Winston Resources. We can place you in temporary, temp-to-hire and direct-hire opportunities with some of Manhattan’s best employers. We look forward to hearing from you.