Page 179 - John Kador - 201 Best Questions to Ask on Your Interview-McGraw-Hill (2002)

THE QUESTION LIFE CYCLE

offer, if not for the original job then for another job. Even if you can’t
do this, a rejection can be beneficial if you can get authentic feedback.
Your first challenge is to find out why you were rejected. Be honest
with yourself as you think about it. Oftentimes you will know why. You
were underqualified, you were overqualified, or your previous salary
was too high or too low. These objections were surely brought out in
the interview, so your rejection should have been no major surprise. You
can take some comfort from the fact that there was nothing much you
could have done to overcome these objections.
Every once in a while, you will blow an interview, quickly realize
what you did wrong, and kick yourself immediately afterward. You
might recover from some of these mistakes, but others are fatal, at least
as far as that job is concerned. Perhaps you dressed inappropriately. Or
perhaps you inadvertently insulted the interviewer. Perhaps you permit-
ted yourself a moment of anger to vent at your current supervisor.
Maybe you were late to the interview or were unprepared because you
didn’t have any questions to ask. By the time you left the interview, you
knew it was hopeless. Consider these learning experiences and resolve
to conduct yourself more professionally next time.
But occasionally a rejection will come out of left field, and you will
feel blindsided because you just didn’t see this one coming. You felt you
were well qualified for the job. The interviewer seemed to like you and
gave you some positive indications that everything was going to work
out. You left the interview feeling positive. Then you get a letter or
phone call telling you thanks, but no thanks.

UNDERSTANDING REJECTION
This is the time when embracing rejection pays off. You have to under-
stand exactly why you were rejected. There is really only one way to do
this. You have to ask the person who rejected you why.
Susan Trainer suggests that if a candidate is rejected, he or she send
should a short note that conveys the following thoughts:

Thank you again for interviewing me. I understand you decided to go
with another candidate and I accept your decision. I’d appreciate any
feedback you can give me.

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