Your CV Let You Down

Your CV really is an opportunity to sell yourself, it’s crucial that you use it to make yourself stand out. The chances are you have some great skills and experience listed on your CV – but they are essentially irrelevant if you can’t grab the attention of those that are reading it. Make sure that your CV is a combination of your skills and experience, presented in a clear and concise manner. Research the language and wording used on the company’s website and social media and use it. Always remember to tweak your CV each time, to ensure it’s suitable to the particular job role.

They Didn’t Understand Your Motivation

Do you understand your motivation? Why do you want to work for this company? Do you like their relaxed culture, do you like the progression opportunities, or are you excited by their products or services? You must ensure that this comes across within your covering letter. It’s likely that you will be among a large number of applicants and potential candidates need to be eliminated, so ensure your motivations are clearly laid out in your covering letter.

They Were Worried You Wouldn’t Fit the Team

Team culture is high on the business agenda and good leaders are focusing on creating teams that have a unified approach, outlook and ethos. It may be that your attitude and opinion to certain questions did not align with the company culture and their work ethic. Another likely answer is that you didn’t gel with the person interviewing you. Remaining confident and eloquent throughout the interview will go a long way. It is absolutely worth looking at the company’s core values to try and gauge the culture before the interview so that you can speak with knowledge, but almost make sure that it fits YOUR ethos.

You Weren’t Enthusiastic

We have all been in the excruciating dilemma where you REALLY want the job – but also want to play it cool. You really must demonstrate your eagerness, excitement and enthusiasm for the role or the company. If it comes down to choosing between 2 candidates, the interviewer is almost certainly going to choose the candidate that showed promising behaviours.

You Didn’t Prepare for the Interview

Not preparing for the interview can mean that you fail to share and demonstrate your knowledge and experience to the best of your ability. Take the time to fully understand the role and specification and how you meet these requirements. Once you are comfortable with this information, it will be much easier for you to communicate it to others. Have strong examples pre-prepared to explain, and take any evidence of the examples with you; this way you can ensure that you have exhibited all that is relevant for the interviewer to consider.

Even After All That

If you still find yourself with a rejection letter or email – all is not lost! It’s all too easy to retreat into the mind set of ‘who needed that job anyway’ and move on swiftly without placing any future opportunities on the table. You never know what is around the corner, so sending an email that will leave a lasting impact is a smart move.

Promptly respond to the news by thanking the person for letting you know that you weren’t suitable in this instance and that you understand and appreciate their decision. Ask them to keep you in mind for any future opportunities, both with the business or in a freelance capacity, even direct them to a blog or publication that you contribute any work too if relevant! Then politely sign off.

Maintaining a positive relationship with a potential employer can open many doors and aid you in securing a job next time!

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