Five Steps To Take When You Didn't Get The Job

Dear Liza,

I'm keeping the faith, but I'm very discouraged. I came in as a runner-up for a great job I applied for. I had two interviews but I didn't make it to the third and final round.

Should I just chalk up this disappointment to life learning and move on? I feel like maybe I'm not interviewing that well or I'm doing something else wrong. What do you recommend?

Thanks Liza!

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Dear Liza,

That job was not the right job for you, at least not at this moment. That's all!

Most job-seekers get down on themselves when they don't get a job they apply for -- and who can blame them? Job-seekers are in a vulnerable position.

They need an income, a place to go every working day and the validation that a job offer brings. We all need these things. It's hard to go for months without them.

Here are five steps to take when you didn't get the job.

Five Steps to Take When You Didn't Get the Job

1. Get a journal and write about the whole interview experience, including every detail you can remember. Writing about the interview process, the job and the people you met will help you process everything you experienced. There is learning in every interview and every other interaction with that employer, but some of it will take weeks to emerge!

2. Think about and write about the job itself -- the job you "lost." Think about the aspects of the job that sounded perfect for you. These are things you want to shoot for in your job search going forward. Interviewing for jobs helps you determine what you want, need and deserve in your next job.  Undoubtedly there were also aspects of the job that were not ideal -- maybe the hours or the commute or something weird in the air. Write about that, too. Consult your trusty gut as you write. You may have dodged a bullet not moving on to the third round of interviews!

3. Remember that although job-seekers tend to think in terms of wins and losses, the real world doesn't work that way. Life is long. Relationships are long, and things change quickly. Send a pleasant thank-you note card to your hiring manager at that job and thank them for the entire experience. Invite them to send you a LinkedIn connection invitation rather than sending one yourself without having been invited to. What if the person they hired doesn't work out, or accepts a better offer the day after they start? What if they have another opening next week? Don't think "I lost that job." Think "I started some new relationships!"

4. Think about and write about what you learned about yourself during the recent interview process. You may feel a bit defeated but you have new muscles now. Every interview makes you stronger. The right people and the right company will come in at the right time. Mother Nature is in charge, not us -- but she has our best interests in mind.

5. Finally, raise your level of job-search activity so that no individual opportunity takes centre stage in your mind. You are a hot property and it will be a lucky employer who gets you on their team -- never forget that! Writing and sending two to four Pain Letters per work day will generate enough conversations that you'll have trouble keeping track of all of them. That's the ideal scenario!

You are mighty, but it is easy to forget that. Not every employer will get you. Only the ones who get you, deserve you!

All the best,

Zubair Hussain
Sr. Software Engineer & Blogger