Why You’re Not Getting Offers
Does this phrase sound familiar to you:
“We really liked you, but we decided to go with another candidate who had more relevant experience.”
😠👎🏾
If you keep making it to late-stage interviews, but get rejected in final rounds, you've likely heard some version of this feedback.
It essentially means you were a good culture fit, but the hiring team was not convinced you could solve their problems.
The truth is if you look good on paper, but you can't articulate your value and show EQ in interviews you won't get the offer.
In this post I explain a common interview pitfall I see job seekers get into that may be the reason you are getting far but aren't getting the offers yet.
The pitfall is called NOT SHOWING = NOT KNOWING
(shoutout to Annie Li for inspiring this post)
Basically, in interviews, if you don't show it, people think you don't know it.
Meaning if you don't talk about your achievements, specific relevant skills or knowledge, the interviewer assumes you don't know or don't have the skill.
Fact is, the hiring team may or may not have glanced at your resume before sitting down to interview you.
Either way, just pretend they've never seen your resume.
Because honestly if they did, they only glanced at it for 10 seconds or less. 👀
Therefore, you need to be able to articulate your value effectively and specifically in interviews if you want to get offers.
The best way to show off your value is to illustrate:
How you approach role-relevant tasks and scenarios
How you solve problems
How you work with people
How you've succeeded and failed (and recovered)
When you prep for interviews:
Practice telling stories concisely
Deliver answers in STAR format
Share specific examples of how you work
Answer the question being asked
The more you share stories that show how you've done things it will help the interview team see you in the role helping them. That is key.
You want to avoid being too high-level, too self-descriptive, and too vague in your answers.
If you are vague, you'll come across as less competent and less believable.
The interviewers won't give you the benefit of the doubt if your resume is impressive but you don't know how to talk about yourself well in interviews.
But hiring teams do really hope you'll do well and show them what you got.
So tell more stories my peeps!
And share specific examples that show how you exemplify a trait or how you've approached work situations in the past.
TL;DR
If you want people know you are good at your job you must share relevant and compelling examples that show how you approach your work.
Interviewing is not a time to be humble and shy. It's a time to be confident, emotionally intelligent, and impressive.
Build up an arsenal of compelling career stories to share for every interview stage.
Show them what you got, by putting on a good show.
