Job hunting can be a grueling process, made even more frustrating in scenarios where you are asked to go through multiple rounds of interviews, only to lose out on an opportunity in the end. But a career coach is shedding some light on the reasons why this pattern may keep repeating itself.
The conversation started when Mark Jannini (@markjannini) posted a video saying he received “a rejection email from a job after 4 rounds of interviews that lasted 6 weeks,” and after he had only received positive feedback each time.
It prompted comments from a number of equally frustrated job seekers, many of whom had had similar experiences. Some were even so fed up with the process that they suggested new laws surrounding how long the interview process should even be allowed to take.
Sho Dewan (@workhap) has devoted his TikTok to offering tips for workers and job seekers in a competitive, complex environment, and had some helpful insight about this particular phenomenon.
“Those are the worst, but let me tell you the real reason you didn’t get the job,” he said. “It doesn’t have to do with your performance in interviews, not your skills, not your experience.”
He said that the most common reason for a qualified candidate to be put through an extensive interview process and not land the job is because the company wound up promoting or moving around someone who already works there.
There’s more.
@workhap #stitch with @markjannini the hard truth 😩 #career #jobsearch ♬ original sound – Sho Dewan | workhap
The second most likely scenario, Dewan said, is that the hiring manager simply didn’t know what he wanted in a new hire prior to the interview stage.
“And while they’re going through interviews, they realize, ‘Oh, you know what? We’re actually looking for this kind of candidate instead,’” he suggested. “So that’s why you got positive reviews, but they just need somebody else.”
A number of viewers shared that they had explicitly lost out on jobs for one of these two reasons, adding weight to Dewan’s claims—although it hasn’t made anyone less frustrated with being put through the process.
“This happened to me too,” wrote @minriem. “Tbh, I feel like i have been gaslighted. Hiring manager said im still on their top choice for a month but ended up not hiring.”
“Made it to the final round and had nothing but positive feedback. Only for them to say they want a ‘different route,’” another viewer added.
@we_are_legion674 also suggested budget cuts and hiring freezes as possible culprits when something like this happens, while @lauralovesthosethings said losing out on her last three job interviews to internal hires has made her question why she even bothers to interview in the first place.
Others felt that losing out on a job due to someone getting promoted internally actually reflected positively on a company and only increased their determination to keep banging down doors to get work there—although whether they should waste applicants’ times with multiple rounds of interviews remains a separate question.
“This is why after asked for a 3rd interview I declined for one job,” @coachkeishaspeaks admitted. “I felt the run around about to happen.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Dewan for comment via email.
