Tired of interviewing and getting no offers

[Redguitar35]

I think you're making the right decision not to take the lesser position, as you're doing the right thing to be looking for higher pay. I don't know your field, but for my field, you're as good as you think you are. I would go to my company and tell them I am looking elsewhere because I'm underpaid here. Not your problem they don't have money to pay you more. You're not in the charity business.

Don't settle for less. If you do, people think you're just not good enough. You know, people assume a high priced item must be a high end product. Because that makes sense to people.

Doesn't matter you didn't get this job, there are others. Important thing is you are now making changes for the better.

 

Thanks, I did email them back saying I wish them best of luck finding a more suitable candidate.

[jamiebrown]

Yeah, it's really hard. Some jobs are just very highly competitive, and there are times it just comes super close, only to just miss it and be #2.

 

The best way you can move forward is to look back at your resume and move your best skills up front. Also, persistence is your best friend. Never give up, keep applying. It will come!

 

Hope you land on a job soon!

[GunslingerRoland]

Im really underpaid and basically live paycheck to paycheck. I've been in my current position about five years and have been struggling trying to find something that pays better than the job I have now.

 

I'd argue if you've been searching for 5 years for the something that pays better and haven't found it, that you probably aren't that underpaid. You are probably getting paid exactly right.

 

If you went to graduate school and are living paycheque to paycheque something clearly went sideways along the way. Are you in the wrong career path?

[Redguitar35]

I'd argue if you've been searching for 5 years for the something that pays better and haven't found it, that you probably aren't that underpaid. You are probably getting paid exactly right.

 

If you went to graduate school and are living paycheque to paycheque something clearly went sideways along the way. Are you in the wrong career path?

 

Nope.

 

 

I was working on my graduate degree taking night classes while I've been working this job and only finished last month. I didn't start looking for new opportunities until after I finished, and hadn't interviewed for anything in that five years.

 

 

Frankly, I was underpaid before I finished my graduate degree, and everybody on the staff views what I make relative to the work I do and education I have as scandalous . Like I said in my first post, this job I didn't get was one where Id be doing the exact same duties at the same company (different branch) for $20k more a year. That's evidence enough without the masters degree that these folks are getting a discount.

Edited June 5, 2017 by Redguitar35

[Maggie4]

Like I said in my first post, this job I didn't get was one where Id be doing the exact same duties at the same company (different branch) for $20k more a year.

 

This was not clear from your original post. So of course this same company would not hire you for this other position, because they already have you working for them for cheap. Sorry, I wouldn't hire/transfer you either. They probably already knew they won't hire you before the interview. You're an internal applicant. They had to interview you.

[Redguitar35]

This was not clear from your original post. So of course this same company would not hire you for this other position, because they already have you working for them for cheap. Sorry, I wouldn't hire/transfer you either. They probably already knew they won't hire you before the interview. You're an internal applicant. They had to interview you.

 

And yet they came back and offered me another job, lol. Your reply prior to this was more thoughtful. Thanks, but I don't need to justify my worth to strangers on the interwebs. Something better will come along.

Edited June 7, 2017 by Redguitar35

[Maggie4]

You don't understand. I am SAYING you are worth more. But they take advantage of you because they think they can. The job they came back with was not good was it? I think we can put this in perspective why you didn't get the job you interviewed for. Sometimes you have to move around different companies if you want to move up.

[Redguitar35]

You don't understand. I am SAYING you are worth more. But they take advantage of you because they think they can. The job they came back with was not good was it? I think we can put this in perspective why you didn't get the job you interviewed for. Sometimes you have to move around different companies if you want to move up.

 

Ah, okay. I am going to take your earlier advice about voicing my displeasure with the salary to my current employers, though. It couldn't hurt. Someone on that staff only has a high school education and is making more than I.

[mightycpa]

Not trying to play hard to get, the truth is I'm only looking for a higher salary. That's my goal. If what they're talking about is a staff position that pays less than or equal to what I'm currently making, as the staff positions at that company generally do, i'm just not interested. I hope they don't think I wanted that job just because I "like" them lol. I wanted it because I knew how to do everything the job announcement called for and it pays better than my current job. But they did not choose me and now I feel that I can't even get a good job in an area where I have experience. It's as if my experience and credentials mean nothing.

That's just silly. Do you know anything about who they hired instead of you? It's your field, you should find out, and it might tell you why. It might show you something that you need to do in order to qualify yourself for jobs that give you significant bumps in money.

 

You should celebrate the fact that they like you enough to encourage you to apply for something else, and you should apply for it, even if you know you'll probably turn it down. Never squander an opportunity like that. Make friends with the people that like you, even if they don't hire you, or even if you say no to this one. People move on to different jobs, they get hit by buses, you never know what's around the corner.

 

Don't be so gloomy. This was not the win you wanted, but it was a win.

[Redguitar35]

I interviewed for a job that I think is perfect for me but I came away from my interview feeling confused and uncertain. First the questions they asked me were extremely simplistic. "Tell me about your best boss? "What do you want out of this job?" I didn't see how the questions were relevant to the job. I answered the questions to the best of my ability but it was hard to tell from their expressions if I was giving them the answers that they wanted. Prior to the interview they asked me to set aside an hour for the discussion, but it lasted only 30 minutes. I didn't feel good about it. Not sure where my life is going at this point.

[HangnTN]

You can thank the creeping influence of "human resources" jargon and philosophy in the hiring process. Used to be your would-be boss interviewed you and asked job-specific questions. Now, everyone has to be run through the HR homogenizer by low-information people whose approach is to shrink your head with generalized questions that can apply to anyone from a heavy equipment operator to a window decorator.

 

The only way to get hired is to play the game. Look up and study up online and on You Tube. Then you can tell them what they want to hear.

[GorillaTheater]

You can thank the creeping influence of "human resources" jargon and philosophy in the hiring process.

 

 

Exactly. I practice employment law and work with HR folks all the time, and still roll my eyes at the questions they want us to ask during interviews for positions within our office. About the only value I can see is that I can gauge how quickly the candidate can think on their feet, but I'm still less interested in their answers to these kind of questions than the relevant experience they bring to the table.

 

 

There's a good chance that the people interviewing you feel the same way.

[Redguitar35]

Exactly. I practice employment law and work with HR folks all the time, and still roll my eyes at the questions they want us to ask during interviews for positions within our office. About the only value I can see is that I can gauge how quickly the candidate can think on their feet, but I'm still less interested in their answers to these kind of questions than the relevant experience they bring to the table.

 

 

There's a good chance that the people interviewing you feel the same way.

 

Maybe my resume and work samples spoke for themselves, because there were not many questions that seemed designed to judge my ability to do the job. There's supposed to be another round of interviews for the finalists, but I have no idea what criteria they're using to make the cutoffs for that. I won't be pleased if I get tossed based on those interview questions.

Edited June 16, 2017 by Redguitar35

[Miss Peach]

Are you screened at all in your process or did someone vouch for your skills? For me, I'm trying to figure out two things in the process - do they have the skills and will they fit in. If they felt good elsewhere in the process, they might have just been trying to ask you questions to access cultural fit. For example if your best manager was very different from the structure they have there it may be seen as not being a good fit.

[Redguitar35]

Are you screened at all in your process or did someone vouch for your skills? For me, I'm trying to figure out two things in the process - do they have the skills and will they fit in. If they felt good elsewhere in the process, they might have just been trying to ask you questions to access cultural fit. For example if your best manager was very different from the structure they have there it may be seen as not being a good fit.

 

There was definitely screening. They wanted a resume, cover letter and work samples before an invitation to interview. Still not sure the value of the questions they asked was. When they asked about the best boss I ever had, I just mentioned one and described what I thought her best personal qualities were. But so what? It just seems so random to ask an applicant.

[Redguitar35]

Another question they asked toward the end was "Where are you from?" Who cares? There were moments I felt like they were wasting my time. I'm beginning to suspect this is one of those cases where they already have someone in mind for the job and they're just going through the motions with these interviews. It's a shame.

[amaysngrace]

I sure hope it's not one of those scams where they pretend to hire you then ship you off to be a sex slave.

[Redguitar35]

Well, I didn't get the job. Right now I'm trying to resist writing back about how idiotic the interview was.

[Got it]

Asking about your best boss - what attributes do you bring up that speak to your strengths and weaknesses. It is to learn more about you and also to see what type of person you mesh well with.

 

What do you want out of the position - they may be looking for a mutlitude of things. We would use that to screen out someone who wants fast promotion (its a red flag for us), it is to make sure you are invested in the position and company and have taken the time to learn about it. It's to make sure that you are aligning with what the hiring manager is looking for in a candidate.

 

Ultimately it may not have been about you not answering the questions properly but that there was one other candidate who was a better fit. Look at it like dating and better to know now.

[Got it]

Where are y'all working where you have to do what HR tells you for interviewing? Good lord. Outside of asking an inappropriate question I have never worked in a company where the questions weren't a joint collaboration between hiring manager and recruiter.

[coolheadal]

I interviewed for a job that I think is perfect for me but I came away from my interview feeling confused and uncertain. First the questions they asked me were extremely simplistic. "Tell me about your best boss? "What do you want out of this job?" I didn't see how the questions were relevant to the job. I answered the questions to the best of my ability but it was hard to tell from their expressions if I was giving them the answers that they wanted. Prior to the interview they asked me to set aside an hour for the discussion, but it lasted only 30 minutes. I didn't feel good about it. Not sure where my life is going at this point.

 

Interview is merely just something they need to see where your head it at! So you can make it up tell them about your best boss. Example Mr. Fred Jones he was out supervisor at The Green Mill Store. He was nice and caring and had taught me a lot about the business. I now have experience in the business I had left. This business can be use for this position. Do you see where I am going with that question. That's what they're looking for. You have to see what they're asking. What do you bring to the table they want to know what you know and how it can be used at this company. That 1 hr discussion you didn't understand what they were after. That was you should have asked them so many questions and shown keen interest that company. That's another trick they pull on you today. It's all about how you handle yourself because you want the job and so may others do what make you stand out from the rest! That's how you have to think about all of this!

 

Next time you have a better understanding how to deal with how they want you to answer and conduct their little get together because that little get together would be the final yes or no if you got the job! You mess-up on that you would not get hired with them!

[GunslingerRoland]

I sure hope it's not one of those scams where they pretend to hire you then ship you off to be a sex slave.

 

If anyone see's redguitar on your local street corner in a short skirt, looking drugged out, please contact your authorities...

 

Anyway, yeah that is a weird set of questions, even for HR. Because those HR types would usually not ask a question like where are you from as it's screaming discrimination. Did they give you a chance to add your own information at the end of the interview at least? Because if they did, I'd say well since we didn't get much into the specifics of my past job experience, and then list as much information as you could to try and show off your experience.

 

But that interview sounds like small talk, which I'm horrible at, so I would probably fail it miserably.

[knabe]

Well, I didn't get the job. Right now I'm trying to resist writing back about how idiotic the interview was.

 

I wouldn't do this. It says more about you than it does about them.

[Redguitar35]

I have been interviewing for three months trying to get out of this dead end job I have now. Interviewed with one place and didn't get the job. They came back and offered me another position but I turned that down because I felt it would've been TOXIC to have to work with the same person that beat me out for the job that I originally applied for. Couldn't do it.

 

 

I've been through five more interviews since then and none of them have resulted in an offer. I've been applying for jobs that didn't even require a masters degree, which I have. I feel depressed when I look at my degree because it hasn't helped land a new job.

 

 

I'm tired and frustrated with the process. Tired of getting dressed up, taking time off work and answering the same dumb standardized interview questions over and over. I don't t think I can do it anymore. My friends tell me give it time, but getting beat out by all these other candidates is making me question all of my life choices. Maybe I should've been a boxer or a plumber or a porn star instead of going to college and graduate school.

[SammySammy]

My solution was to work for myself. Best decision of my life.