Why didn't this company hire me? please read the whole paragraph. Thanks?

Question

So a few weeks ago I had two phone interviews with an engineering company , my first interview was with HR which was by phone . They approved me , my second interview was with manager,  and it was also by phone and they approved me again. A week later, they invited me to their facility and they showed me around the facility. I dressed nice , I was being friendly,  the manager showed me the workplace. He didnt ask me any technical questions,  and I was acting like I was interested, I was telling the manager thats nice and so clean, etc. I also asked manager few questions like what the hiring process was, what teams I will be working on , etc.  I went home and two weeks later,  I received an email, they told me that they hired another candidate. I was like what did I do.  I have no idea what I did in that facility that I turned them off. If they wanted to reject me, why did they showed me their facility in the first place ?

n2mama · Answer

I’m going to guess that the impression you gave on your first two interviews was pretty decent, but you failed to continue to make a good impression with the third in person interview. You almost certainly weren’t the only candidate they brought in to see the facility, and the other candidate made a better in person impression. Honestly, it sounds like you could have been better prepared for the in person interview and tour. You say the manager didn’t ask you any technical questions, but it doesn’t sound like you asked any technical questions either. Your feedback and questions were pretty superficial and didn’t impress them. They didn’t invite you to see the facility because they planned to reject you beforehand, they decided to reject you after the tour.

linkus86 · Answer

Good question and it is a question you may never know the real answer because the answer may create liability to the company.  Sometimes it is just an issue of how well you develop rapport with the manager in comparison to other candidates who made it as far in the interview process, but other times it can be all sorts of other reasons.

Generally speaking, the employer likely narrowed down their choices to handful of candidates and they do so specifically to "not put all the eggs in one basket", such that if they make an offer to their favorite candidate, and they say "no", they have alternative candidates to rely upon.

Don't give up and don't put "all your eggs in one basket" either by seeking one job at a time.  Good Luck.

Maxi · Answer

Applying and interviewing for a job is a competition, you are competing with other people who also want that job, you didn't get it as someone else won the competion, so they were a better fit for the company, had better experience, knowledge, qualifications and/or sold themselves better than you did

A Hunch · Answer

You weren't the only one that was brought in to review the facility.
Most likely the candidate that was selected had more to say than "that's nice" and "so clean".

Why didn't this company hire me? please read the whole paragraph. Thanks?

4 Answers