Another failed interview

[AmyCee]

....so so upset right now, i've applied for 4 jobs within the last few months, have had interviews for all of them.
I've prepared myself, researched each place, wrote down notes and memorised them, asked my husband to interview me so many times, I feel the interviews go well and then I get told:

You haven't got the job, we've selected someone else, someone else has done this specific job before so we went with them.... it's so disheartening to hear, the amount of prep, the panic and anxiousness beforehand... I stopped telling people I got an interview after the 2nd fail and now i've had 2 more.

It makes me feel like a complete failure and so embarassed that i keep failing. Do I come off really badly? Is there something i'm doing terribly wrong? Don't know what I want from this post, just needed to get it off my chest i guess

I’m sorry to hear that, it’s so rubbish to put all the effort in and then get a rejection. It is almost certainly not anything you’ve done wrong, but just that someone else was a marginally better fit. If you get keep getting feedback that is similar then see if you can address that (e.g is there a top up course you can do to refresh your skills/some voluntary work to update your cv etc) but otherwise the only option is chin up & keep applying and one day you’ll be the best fit! Good luck!

So sorry to hear this - it's so irritating when companies advertise a role, not being completely upfront, namely that there is already an internal candidate who is doing the job, so you are being brought in as an external candidate to show they have done due diligence.

Having said that, I know of a few instances where the internal candidate who thought all they had to do was show up for the interview and the job was theirs, have such a dreadful interview and the external candidate came off much better.

If it's a specialist role, is there any way you could perhaps slide in as a temp?

Hi OP, I'm sure it's not the way that you come across, it probably is exactly what the feedback says - another candidate with recent experience in this specific area. I know it seems like a lot to you, but honestly four interviews is nothing! I know people looking for work at the moment - strong candidates - who've had a lot more than that. It's a tough job market at the moment. Don't give up! It will be worth it in the long run when the right job comes along.

Sounds like you are doing all the right prep and to actually get interviews is really really good. Chin up, keep working on it. It’s a numbers game sooner or later one of those jobs will be yours.

You are obviously doing something very right because you have got a 100% application/ interview strike. Which is a brilliant score, lots of places report that they have masses of applications, so yours are hitting the spot.

As others have said you are possibly coming up against the internal candidate walk-in or pipped at the post with another candidate. It’s bloody annoying when it happens, and I think it has happened to most of us . Have you asked for any feedback from your interviews. It might be worth while asking , you never know, it’s possible the person chosen doesn’t work out , happens more often than people realise, and if they know you are still interested you might get a call.

Keep trying, you are so close......

The sad reality is that we’re currently in an employer’s market. Getting to interview stage is a positive though, and I wouldn’t necessarily see it as having done anything wrong, but if there are better candidates then it stands to reason they are the ones who will get the job.

And sometimes what they’re looking for isn’t what they’ve advertised. I recently got an interview for a job, and when they sent me an interview invite they also sent me a revised job description and person spec which was nothing like the job advert, and required a degree plus experience working in a senior role etc etc. I can only guess that the reason they hadn’t advertised it like that was because they were only paying £13k a year for a part time role and yet expected full-time commitment, and nobody with those qualifications would have applied.

I actually withdrew my application and pulled out of the interview because it would have been a pointless exercise.

Keep applying though, and I will say that 4 applications isn’t very many, so to have a 100% interview rate is a good sign. Increase the number of applications you put in, and your chances will increase.

Thanks everyone, i've calmed down abit now. I got myself really upset as I had 2 interviews yesterday.... then soon after, I got rejected by 1 yesterday and the other rejected me today. All the jobs were at schools, i already work in an education environment but the ones I applied for had more suitable hours for myself and my children and nearer to their school.
One of the schools said I came across great, interviewed well and app good but they went with someone else.... the 2 very recently were abit more limited on info and said they picked someone else or 'it didn't go in my favour' whatever that means, but i've asked for more feedback from both.
I've just applied for another job, so fingers crossed but not putting too much hope on it.

I'm recruiting right now and today had to pick one candidate out of five who were all brilliant. It's a horrible feeling, I wish I had jobs to give to all of them!

You're doing really well. Hopefully the feedback will help but on the other hand, sometimes you did great but sadly others had just a bit more experience.

One tiny tip - always answer with practical examples. The civil service STAR (situation task approach result) thing can help here!

The only thing is to keep going. Most jobs get certainly 30 to 40 applicants. So until you've not been chosen 40 times you're not performing badly!!!! You're setting too high expectations for yourself.

It's the state of the market, almost certainly not you. I've had about 16 interviews avd only one offer for a short term contract at a lower level than my previous role.

I don't even get the tenterhooks feeling after final stage bow, just check my inbox for the inevitable thanks but no thanks email.

I'm afraid I have no other advice than to keep going!

The good news is that you are getting interviews so your applications are working.

Do you have a friend who could do some mock interviews with you and give you honest feedback on whether there is something you can do to improve your interview technique.

Most employers wont give you real feedback cause they don't want to upset people / are worried about feedback going wrong.

A friend will be more honest with you.

The interview expert by John Lees is an excellent book if you want to hone your skills.

Don't give up OP! You are doing really well to get interviews but remember with school jobs there is often a preferred candidate like someone who volunteers or has another connection to the school. They idiots they employ at my DC school is unbelievable, the "business manager" has no qualifications or experience, but just so happens to be the headteachers friend.

Try not to get too disheartened.