Career Connections

I have gone on a number of first interviews this fall, but have not been called back for any second interviews.  What do you think is going wrong? — submitted by Elizabeth ’96

There could be a number of reasons as to why you have not been called back for a second interview:

  1. Are you dressing appropriately for the interview?  My suggestion is to always dress one step above the position that you interviewing for, and a classic suit is almost always a good idea.
  2. Did you bring extra clean copies of your resume for everyone who is interviewing you?  If you are not sure how many people you will be meeting with, bring ten copies with you in a nice padfolio.
  3. Have you done research on the company and the position that you are interviewing for?  Before an interview you must always research the company online.  Check out their website, look them up on LinkedIn, read their annual report and do a general search to see if there are any current news articles about them.
  4. Are you prepared for the interview?  Have you prepared answers to the most common interview questions?  The more prepared you are, the more confident you will come across during the interview.
  5. Do you know what you will ask when they say, “Do you have any questions?”  If you have done your research on the company and the position, it should have triggered some questions for you.
  6. Does the paper version of you match the in-person version of you?  Did you make many of your jobs sound more significant than they were?  Did you embellish your skills and experience?  If so, it could be that they need someone with the level of skill that you outlined on your resume, but were not able to prove in person.
  7. Have you sent thank you notes after each interview to everyone you met? 
  8. Consider reaching out to some of the interviewers and ask them for recommendations or pointers to improve your interview skills, based on their impressions.
Sometimes you can do everything right on an interview, but the job goes to someone else simply because of experience or personality or rapport with the interviewer.