No one wants to be ghosted after a round of interviews and when it happens, it feels personal and borderline rude.
You’ve invested a lot of time in the process.
You may have shared your proprietary processes and intellectual property that is sure to help the employer.
You felt positive chemistry—a sense of trust!
There are many reasons for the silence, and none of them has anything to do with you personally.
It’s about them.
Here are likely scenarios:
- The leadership team is having a tough time getting together to discuss your candidacy.
- The board cannot agree on the best candidate.
- The top candidate has been extended an offer, and they’re waiting for a response.
- The budget was cut.
- The posting was put on hold because of a data breach.
- The recruiter was too busy to give you an update.
- The background check is taking longer than expected (the security clearance is mission-critical).
- You’re overqualified. Although they like your credentials, they know you’re not a match.
Keep an open mind during the selection process and remember to politely follow up (always).
Also, don’t apply for jobs you’re too big for. Remember, if you’re overqualified, you’re not qualified.
Meet Sean.
A high performing CTO with Goldilocks, Inc. — left a leading US-based tech company because of a colleague who was bullying him.
Sean’s teams loved him, he was supportive and kind, yet miserable. Sean worried about leaving his team behind, but after several failed attempts to address the issue with the CEO, he decided to start a job search.
As a member of an executive roundtable, Sean speaks regularly at industry events as a cybersecurity expert (a go-to guy). At lunch with a colleague at the roundtable, he disclosed his current issue to Roberto. Roberto disclosed a current opening for a VP IT Ops role at his company, Rubadub, Inc.
Sean had 4 interviews with Rubadub—it was perfect—an easy commute, high employee engagement, and much more.
He felt instant rapport and trust with everyone, including the chair of the board. He felt an offer was imminent.
Then, radio silenc!
For more than 10 days there was no response, despite his best efforts to politely follow up. He was then told he did not get the job. He was heartbroken.
Until Rubadub created a new role for him — Chief Technology Officer! He was overqualified for the VP IT Ops and so they created a new job for him.
Learn more about our Career Navigator Program here.
#gethiredup #overqualified #careercoach
December 6th is a special day in our family because it’s Brenna’s birthday (our older daughter). She is sitting with Hank, a new member of the Farmer family. Hank is a rescue dog from Adel, Georgia. He arrived during the height of the first wave of COVID-19 crossing state, country and provincial borders. After much TLC (and vet bills), Hank is now happy, healthy, and safe. We’re not
sure how many people he traveled with to make it here, but we’re very pleased to have him here with us. We're also grateful for the tireless volunteers who help to rescue homeless canines from a certain demise!
