Oh, my… you can’t believe this, you talked to everyone possible, including the janitor…six or seven interviews… took all kinds of personality tests….rubbed your belly, patted your head and sang the Star-Spangled Banner at the same time… And now you are told they’re not going to hire anybody…
You are frustrated, disappointed, and mad as hell!… These guys told you all along you were the person for the job, and now this… it just doesn’t make sense.
Most candidates are mad when this kind of thing happens…they really don’t understand what might be going on…
Hiring someone… no matter what level… is a highly political event… and the higher level the position, the more political it is… They’re all kinds of things going on “behind the scenes” of hiring somebody the candidate may never know… political infighting, one group versus another group, one decision-maker versus another decision-maker… one group or individual really loves you thinks you’d do a great job and another group or individual will nix your candidacy to get even, flex their power or just show others that have the power to do it…budgets get cut, headcount gets allocated to another department or postponed because of a poor quarter… company restructuring, etc…. There’s simply no way of knowing all the reasons and, amazingly enough, you may not even get a straight answer even when you ask..
In spite of your anger and frustration, cool your jets and don’t write the deal off just yet… 99 out of 100 times when this happens, it is not personally directed at you… the decision really doesn’t have anything to do with you and there is an much you can do to effect it… again, be cool and be graceful…
Don’t let your anger show… something like, “I am disappointed, I understand these things happen. Is there a chance that if this issue is resolved you might consider me down the line?” Now, there is part of you that is saying, “Tony, are you nuts! Who would want to go work for an organization like this?” And to that I say, “Cut it out! you know as well as I do that decisions like this can change or be postponed for all kinds of reasons that have nothing to do with you. Even excellent organizations have glitches like this.”
Keep the door open. If the opportunity resurrects itself in the near future it may be good for you to consider it. into account all factors surrounding the job, but my experience since 1973 tells me that, most of the time, this kind of glitch has really nothing to do with the quality of the job or the opportunity. You may think it does, but most of the time it doesn’t. Now, you may not end up accepting an offer for this kind of job if it comes back around, but at least give yourself the advantage of having the “right of first refusal.”
I can’t tell you the number of very, very happy candidates who I placed over the years where the opportunity with the company went away at the last moment and, because they kept their composure, ended up getting the job… even as long as a year later… most are having a stellar career with the firm…
