No Job Offer? Ask yourself these questions - Andy Ditlevson

No Job Offer? Ask yourself these questions! 
Andy Ditlevson - Career Services Professional

Ever gotten turned down for a job and wanted to ask the interviewer "WHY?" I think we've all been in this situation -- the problem is that most employers will be very hesitant to tell you why they rejected you as a candidate. The good news is, if you can be honest with yourself, you can probably figure out why you didn't get a job offer by asking yourself these questions:

1) Did I thoroughly research the employer so I could provide very specific reasons why I am interested in working for their particular organization? (Your answers should make it obvious to the employer that you really did your homework. If you give basically the same answer to more than one employer - you're probably in trouble).

2) Did I read through the job description carefully so I knew exactly what the job duties were? (CLUE -- if after you answered the "Why are you interested in this job" question, the recruiter reminded you of the job duties, you probably just lost the job offer).

3) Did I cite specific detailed examples to prove I met their requirements? (For example, if you're asked to talk about your communication skills, say something like: "I think my communication skills are one of my strengths. Let me give you an example --last week, I was (cite specific situation) and so I (cite specific action you took), which resulted in (describe positive outcome of your action).

4) Did I dress appropriately for the interview? (If the interviewer was dressed more formally than you, the offer may have flown out the window before you even sat down).

5) Did I demonstrate genuine enthusiasm for the job and employer? (If you're not sure you want the job -- there's a good chance the employer walked away from the interview wondering the same thing -- if so "bye-bye" job offer).

6) Did I follow up with a thank you note? (This is one more way to show the employer that you really want the job -- no letter = little effort = no offer).

7) Did I badmouth anyone in the interview? (Any negative comment about a former job, employer or colleague will lead the employer to think that you'll likely do the same thing at their organization if they hire you).

8) Was I late? Did I have gum in my mouth? Did my cell phone go off? Did I sit up straight and make good eye contact?

9) Did I go into the interviewing thinking "I'm not sure I really want this job"? (Candidates sometimes do this to minimize the blow of being turned down but having this mindset often leads to rejection. Even if you are not sure you want the job -- go into the interview thinking "I want to get this job offer" -- that way you get to decide).

If you said "Yes" to any of these questions -- you should have a good idea why you didn't get the job offer. If you could say "No" to all of them, it is possible that someone else was more qualified than you for each of the jobs -- but if multiple job interviews result in no offers, it may be you were "out interviewed" rather than out qualified. In that event, please consider doing some practice interviews through your career center and/or with someone who has experience interviewing candidates.

Inspired and extracted from https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140626164940-25240107-no-job-offer-ask-yourself-these-questions