Job rejection as not right fit

westbridgfordguy

I've had 5 final round job interviews over the past year, none of which have come to any fruition with a job offer being made. Frustratingly the majority of these jobs I've applied to have been through agencies so when I ask for any constructive feedback after the rejection call this elicits little or no valuable advice, job agencies after all are only interested in progressing live candidates they can make money out of.

I spoke to another job agency this morning regards getting an interview set up, they enquired if I had any other roles being progressed and I told them I had recently been rejected for a role after being down to myself and another candidate, the recruiter asked what the reasons given were and I told them I was fed back that the other candidate had more relevant recent project experience. The recruiter then immediately responded by saying "that is a classic fit issue, they just don't like telling you that".

What does "not right fit" allude to, effectively does that mean that there was something in my interview which annoyed or upset the interviewer or made them think jeez I don't want to be working with that person?

Am getting paranoid now as I cannot think of anything I did during each of the interviews which would cause offence, I conducted myself professionally in all the interviews, is this potentially down to a personality clash or am I just read too much into the situation?

Comms69

It just means that you aren't going to be friends with everyone and for whatever reason (it's subjective, so irrelevant) the interviewer preferred the other candidate.

TBagpuss

It may actually be that the other candidate did, in fact, have more relevant experience!

But if it is the case that they felt you weren't the right fit that could simply be that they felt the other person's personality would mesh better with the existing team - it doesn't mean you've done anything wrong.
For example, if the existing team is very extrovert and you come over as quieter, or vice versa, they might feel you wouldn't be the best fit, or if it turned out that the other candidate had a lot of hobbies in common with the boss.
The things that meant you were not a good fit for this job could be the same things that make you a perfect fit for the next one.

Smodlet

Maybe the other candidate came across as more confident. Some of your posts do seem somewhat negative, if you don't mind my saying so. Maybe anything. The only way to find out is to call the interviewers and ask them since the agency don't seem to know.

[Deleted User]

westbridgfordguy wrote: »

What does "not right fit" allude to, effectively does that mean that there was something in my interview which annoyed or upset the interviewer or made them think jeez I don't want to be working with that person?

No sometimes the very opposite - they know they have employees who maybe difficult with new starters/resistant to change.

If you are always going through a third party - how can you always be sure the job always exists or is as it’s ‘sold’ to you.

agrinnall

When I was interviewing 'right fit' was one of the most important characteristics that I looked for, at least as high as qualifications and not far off relevant experience. I made a couple of errors on fit in my time and the resulting unpleasantness in the office caused me to be very wary in the future.

Detroit

I'm interested to know how the recruiter was able to say this with such certainty. Unless your experience could not have been more relevant and recent.

I say this only as just this week I told a candidate they had been unsuccessful as another person had more relevant recent experience.

It was a classic case of the other candidate having more relevant recent experience.

Takeaway_Addict

Is this thread not the same as your previous one?

dlmcr

Why are you giving recruiters time of day like this. You need to take charge of the conversation flow when you are talking to agents. Instead of responding to their questioning, you say something like "no I haven't been submitted for any other roles" then make sure you explain to the agency to contact you first before submitting you for any role. That way you won't be submitted for roles by more than one agency. Try and not be their lackey.
Basically, agents lie, all the time. That's what they do. It doesn't really what they say, it;s just noise out of their mouths. They also know that information is power so the more information you give them, the more power they will have in the relationship between you and them. Beyond your skillsets abilities and experience you don't need to give them any information. Lie to them, bluff, it doesn't matter, if they put you forward for a role and the end client likes you and wants you then the agent will be all over you like rash, otherwise they just will farm you for info, it's part of their DNA.

Lastly forget about this right fit business, you could go crazy overanalyzing why an end client doesn't want you. Basically you didn't get the job, as long as you know you have good skills and good experience and can honestly say you performed as well as you can in the interview (you did, right?) it's time to move on.

If you are uncertain about how you project yourself in interviews go and look at some youtube videos about interviewing technique and see whether what you are unconsciously doing in an interview is the wrong thing. There are plenty of guides out there to learn about how to say the right and wrong things in interviews.
Ps Bridgford. Close to me. I am in Nottingham, we have a lot of mickey mouse agencies in this city and I have my fair experience of them from back in the day, maybe you are talking to the wrong ones?

TELLIT01

'Right fit' tends to be a combination of elements from job knowledge, experience, personality, attitude and many others. I was once on the winning side of the 'right fit' equation. Not long after I started I was told by my boss that I was taken on despite having less experience than the other shortlisted candidate because they thought I'd fit in better. They must have been right as I stayed there for many years until redundancy raised its ugly head.