Page 182 - James Caan - Get the Job you Really Want

I’ll go for another one.’ That is not my mindset. If I didn’t get the
job, I want to know why I didn’t get it.
Leave it a day or two and call back. But if I call the HR person,
they’ll never tell me; they’ll give me some standard response.
I want to talk to the person who interviewed me. If I call to ask

why I didn’t get the job, they’re going to feel uncomfortable,
because human nature is such that people don’t want to engage
in a negative discussion. The situation needs some finesse.

So, I would ring and say, ‘Hi, we met the other day about
the job in sales. I understand you’ve o≠ered the position to
somebody else. I fully understand the situation. You must have
seen a lot of people. But, just out of curiosity, could I ask you:
what was the one thing that made me unsuitable for the role?

What was it that didn’t quite do the trick?’
Most people don’t have the confidence to engage in that
conversation.

The other person will try and fob you o≠ with a bland
answer: ‘You didn’t have the right experience.’
That’s the time to push harder: ‘Was there any particular
area where you think my experience was limited?’ I’m not going
to give up, I’m going to wear them down. ‘Specifically, where did

I not have the experience – was it in sales, or marketing, or on
the financial side?’
‘Well, we felt that although you were good at sales, we were

looking for somebody to work on the corporate accounts, and
we just didn’t feel you had that level of experience.’
Bingo. Now I have something to work with. They hadn’t told
me that in the interview. And it just so happens that, for my

170 get the job you really want