Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

(Part 1 of 2)
Not getting the job that you just interviewed for is tough, no doubt. There are two ways in which you can react to this disappointing event. You can micro-analyze every answer that you offered during the interview and every gesture that you made. You can also choose to chalk it up to experience and move on.

In Part 1 of this post, I share an experience where I did not get the job that I interviewed for. In Part 2, I discuss my thoughts on potential reasons as to why I didn’t get the job and how I handled the situation.

What do you do when you don’t get the job that you just interviewed for? You prepared and prepared but no job offer, nonetheless. If you were lucky, you received an email or some other notification letting you know the bad news.

There is definitely no solace in the hollow words, “although you were highly qualified, we have chosen to go with another candidate.”

You start reliving the interview to see if you said something wrong. You wonder if you offended them in some way.
My advice would be that you not torture yourself. I don’t know anyone that has not gone through this experience. Let me share one of mine:

I was one of two finalists for a directorship at a school district. I had interviewed with a committee of about ten people and felt I had done well. In fact, I would say that it was one of my best interviews of my career.

Sure enough, I get the call that I am one of two finalists and that I had a final interview with the superintendent. The day came for my interview. I was ready. I was confident. I walked into the superintendent’s office and sat down. The superintendent literally asked me two questions. I answered each question well. The interview was over. I was probably in her office for less than five minutes. The superintendent told me that she would be making a decision over the weekend.

When Monday came, I was called into the superintendent’s office. The superintendent told me that she was going to offer the position to the other finalist. She told me that there was nothing that I had done wrong, nor was it a lack of experience or knowledge. She told me to, “Hang in there, your turn will come.”

Honestly, I didn’t spend much time wondering what had gone wrong. To begin with, I did not feel slighted in any way throughout the interview process. I actually felt really good that I had been one of the two finalists. I knew that there were going to be other opportunities in the future.

I could have spent hours trying to figure out what went wrong. Was there a specific reason as to why I wasn’t offered the job. After all, I was qualified and experienced.

All I know is that I wasn’t going to spend a lot of time and energy trying to figure out an outcome that I could not change.

Yes, I was disappointed. Bummed really. After all, I knew that I would have done a great job. I did not however, spend too much time feeling this way.

Photo by Ethan Weil on Unsplash

How Do You Lead?

I thought that I would do something a little different than what I usually do on my blog. Rather than my typical post, I thought I would keep it brief and hopefully open up a discussion.
Here is the topic:
As leaders, we are expected to inspire, motivate, and keep morale up.
Rather than share what I do, I am interested in hearing what you do as a leader to meet this expectation?

Throughout my career I have heard many people utter the words, “It’s who you know.” That is such an easy way to justify a disappointment. Whether it’s because someone did not get an interview, a promotion or a job, it is an easy reach. I personally do not subscribe to this frame of mind. I think that this way of thinking short changes an individual.

Now, I am not naïve. I know there have been instances in which someone received a promotion or was hired without merit. I know that there is favoritism in the workplace. I just choose not to let that bother me. I also know that networking is a great way to get your name out there, but I don’t rely on that to get me to where I want to be in my career.

Here is advice that I shared with many over the years.

I have gone through my career “earning” my way into a school district. For the most part, I have applied with school districts where I am not known. I do this knowing that I want to get a job through my resume and interview. I never want to be given a job simply because somebody knows me. In my mind, if someone does this for me, I now owe them a favor in return. I refuse to live my life in that fashion.

I have applied for positions where I have not even been called for an interview. It is probably safe to say that we all have. My feeling is that I must not have been what they are looking for.

I have also been passed up for a promotion in favor of someone that I felt was not qualified for the respective position.

I have even been a finalist for two positions only to find that I was not given either of those positions.

Ultimately, my feeling is that I would not want to work in a position that I was not the first choice for. This is true, regardless of the reason for the choice.

If you find yourself in this situation, be confident in who you are and what you know. Yes, there are injustices in the workplace. Remember, nobody ever said that life was fair.

In the end, if things do not go your way, you may have to move on to find a better place for yourself. You may have to work in a different place in the organization. At least, when you do, you can feel proud knowing that you are where you are based on merit

Trust me, this is a better way to carry on in your career.