The most common reasons for NOT getting the Job?

melysion

mattcanary wrote: »

Okay.

I thought that the general method in CVs at least,, was to give only very brief information (such as dates, the job title and company you worked for) if the job goes back more than 10 years or is irrelevant to the job you are seeking now.

I suppose really though that you can design the CV in any way you wish.

But you would then have to be aware that you may have to do really well in the interview to overcome their prejudices or concerns. And if you deliberately miss out information that you think may hinder you in getting the job, then the company may be a bit irritated when you see them in the interview.

I suppose also that recruiters may not bother reading the second page of CVs. That says something about their laziness and lack of attention to detail. They may feel they are too busy to read all CVs thoroughly, but then employing their staff (and the right people) should be one of (if not the most) important things they do in their working life.

I don't deliberately hide anything from my CV at all. I list my most recent job history and my qualifications with dates. Anything ten years old or more is totally irrelevant to anything I am applying for now (seeing as they were all NMW jobs to fund my studies) so adding them in would serve no purpose (and my CV is full enough as it is!)

In theory of course, age shouldn't even come into the equation so you shouldn't have to work hard to overcome an interviewers prejudice, but we all know differently, sadly.

mattcanary

melysion wrote: »

I don't deliberately hide anything from my CV at all. I list my most recent job history and my qualifications with dates. Anything ten years old or more is totally irrelevant to anything I am applying for now (seeing as they were all NMW jobs to fund my studies) so adding them in would serve no purpose (and my CV is full enough as it is!)

In theory of course, age shouldn't even come into the equation so you shouldn't have to work hard to overcome an interviewers prejudice, but we all know differently, sadly.

Whend I said "you" in my post, I didn't mean you specifically. I was meaning you in a general way.

I should probably have used "someone" instead though

mattcanary

Walcott wrote: »

Yes, exactly the point I was trying to make but didn't elaborate in my first post so my mistake.

I got most of my feedback from the first stage feedback and used that to improve and after 3-4 interviews I was very relaxed and handling them well so it is not a total waste of time but TBH to get to the 2nd is always tough because they are unpredictable.

The only genuine reply I had for overqualified was when a financial controller interviewed me. She said at the end that she was sorry but it was going to be a no and she wanted to tell me that herself rather than have a recruitment consultant call. Her reason was that she said my CV was not the most impressive because she had people claiming much more. In fact she rejected mine at the start but mine was the only honest one she had seen. The others were exaggerating and when she grilled them they crumbled. For me she had probed and got answers. She probed further and she was satisfied that when I backed up with examples they were genuine. She said there is very little room for progression in the short to medium term and that she thought I could do her job but she herself was not seeing any development in her own circumstances so would not really have anywhere for me to go.

I appreciated that but for the most part the overqualified replies were just coming back as generic cop outs.

I'd be really pleased with that feedback, (of course that doesn;t pay the bills but nevertheless).
Sounds like a good manager to work for.

noelphobic

melysion wrote: »

Not necessarily. They wouldn't really get it from mine, as I started my degree/PhD studies later in life than usual. Thankfully, I also don't look my age so haven't really come across the ageism problem myself yet.

Also, generally speaking, I think you are only meant to list the last ten years of your work experience. Anything before that would be considered out-of-date and irrelevant I guess.

I took my O Levels in 1976 and I worked for my last employer for 23 years. I could make myself look younger 'on paper' by not putting my O Levels down (although I think that could cause all kinds of problems.) The length of time I was with my previous employer means that I would have to be at least pushing 40.

I only completed my degree last year but I already volunteer for the organisation I am being interviewed for next week. One of the panel also knows my son (who is 25) so she knows that I'm not in the first flush of youth!

noelphobic

DKLS wrote: »

Whenever I have been asked for feedback and tbh its not that often, I would never tell the true reason why they didn't get hired, I would simply trot out one of the old favourites. Any notes I make are binned after a decision has been made.

Aren't you required to keep them under Data Protection Laws? In which case you would have to provide a copy if SAR was made.