The Number 1 Reason Why You Don't Get Hired

Have you wondered why you didn’t get hired even though you were perfect for the job?

Join career expert, motivator, and award-winning author Andrew LaCivita as he discusses the number 1 reason you did not get hired in the podcast episode above!

Mistake Alert

Most people think they get hired because of their qualifications. In doing so, they expend so much energy in the interview focusing on their experience before they know which parts of their experience and qualifications the employer is most interested in. At this point, you must be thinking whaaaaaa?

The Obvious

You are in a job interview of some kind. The employer, through its action of spending time to speak with you, thinks you’re qualified—on paper.

The Not-So-Obvious

You actually get a job interview because of your qualifications. You get the job for three reasons, none of which are your qualifications.

Why Do You Get the Job?

Based on my observation from thousands of interviews between my clients (the hiring companies) and job candidates (prospective employees), I’ve concluded a candidate’s attainment of the job is largely contingent on three often-undetectable success factors:

The candidate’s ability to effectively articulate his or her qualifications and potential contributions (encoding)

The interviewer’s ability to accurately interpret the candidate’s qualifications (decoding)

The interviewer’s capacity to remember the candidate (memory)

It all comes down to your ability to communicate how your qualifications match what the employer needs.

The Unfortunate Reality

The reality is you have a greater chance of failing the interview because of a misrepresentation or misinterpretation than you do a lack of qualification.

The 3-Step Fix

Keep the three reasons why you get hired in mind. Awareness and consciousness (of these issues) is key to success. Of course, general consciousness is too.

When asked an interview question, don’t rush to share your awesomeness unless you know which part of your awesomeness the interviewer and employer needs to know. (That is, it doesn’t matter if you’re fantastic. You need to connect the dots for the employer how your fabulousness matches what it needs!) Sometimes the job interviewer’s question is specific and he or she identifies clearly what’s needed. Other times, the interviewer is vague. Make sure to look before you leap.

Ask a clarifying question (if need be) to zone in on exactly what information the interviewer needs to know to determine whether you are a great fit. This is especially helpful in the wake of the dreaded and horribly ineffective, “Please tell me about yourself,” question. (See Bonus Section for more.)

Bonus Section

For junior and mid-level folks who often face the dreaded, “Please tell me about yourself,” question, your immediate response to ensure clarification should be: “I’d love to tell you about myself. Can you let me know what part of my background would be most helpful for you to know so you can make a good determination regarding whether I’m a great fit for your company?”

For senior-level folks, make sure to clarify what the employer considers the most important growth areas (units) within the company as well as what attributes, traits, capabilities, and skills are most important for its leaders.