Do you feel like a failure when you don't get the job you interviewed for?

Stephalump · May 28, 2012

I had my 3rd ever job interview last week, and for the first time I was not the successful candidate:( I'm feeling like such a loser right now, there were only 7 people being interviewed:(

YES! I take it extremely personally for some reason...even if I wasn't all that excited about the job to begin with.

grownuprosie · May 28, 2012

I am nervous about this too. I have never not gotten the job I have interviewed for in my life before nursing. When i graduate next year, I am going to have to learn not to take it personally. I know there will be way more competition for nursing jobs than for the sales associate jobs i have had before.

caliotter3 · May 28, 2012

The only thing I feel badly about when I'm rejected for a job is the fact that I can't meet my obligations without income. I stopped seeking employment for reasons other than supporting myself and my family many years ago.

loveoutloud · May 28, 2012

ugh i know, I didn't even want this job.... Just wanted it for interview practise and to look good on a future resume!

anonymousstudent · May 28, 2012

I used to do interviewing for the department I was managing. I'd say it's unlikely they wasted their time interviewing you if you didn't meet the requirements to actually do the job. Remember that they are looking at an entirely different set of needs than you are aware of. They know the people on their team, and they know specific qualities and traits they are looking for. You might not be a good match, and that's OK. You will be somewhere. Don't take it personally. I know it's hard, but you just have to accept that it's probably got nothing to do with your qualifications and move on.

OR, the person they ended up hiring was the cousin of so and so, or the best friend of that person's mom's son...you know that crap is happening too.

loveoutloud · May 29, 2012

I used to do interviewing for the department I was managing. I'd say it's unlikely they wasted their time interviewing you if you didn't meet the requirements to actually do the job. Remember that they are looking at an entirely different set of needs than you are aware of. They know the people on their team, and they know specific qualities and traits they are looking for. You might not be a good match, and that's OK. You will be somewhere. Don't take it personally. I know it's hard, but you just have to accept that it's probably got nothing to do with your qualifications and move on.
OR, the person they ended up hiring was the cousin of so and so, or the best friend of that person's mom's son...you know that crap is happening too.

I'm not worried about it being against my qualifications, I'm more worried about how I came across as a person. What if my eye contact was too strong, what if I appeared to be awkward, what if I came across as a ditz since I was so nervous?

Those are the things I am more worried about.

PediLove2147, BSN, RN · May 29, 2012

I try and not take it personally but it's hard. I had 3 interviews (different units) at the same hospital within a few months, didn't get any of them. I was upset but ended up getting another job that I enjoy and didn't have to move for. Sometimes things do happen for a reason.

Don't feel like a loser, people are passed up all the time for reasons that have nothing to do with them personally (as another poster mentioned, a cousin of so and so.)

IEDave, ASN, CNA, LVN · May 29, 2012

I'm not worried about it being against my qualifications, I'm more worried about how I came across as a person. What if my eye contact was too strong, what if I appeared to be awkward, what if I came across as a ditz since I was so nervous?
Those are the things I am more worried about.

Good way to address this is to do some mock interviews with friends, classmates, etc. so that you can get some feedback from trusted individuals.

And, yeah - it's tough to NOT take it personally; let's face it - interviewing blows! I've been told that I was the only qualified applicant and not gotten the job - which really makes you feel dandy! But, in the final analysis - if they don't think you're a good fit, then you're not a good fit. Get back up, brush the dust off, do an analysis of your presentation & schedule another interview somewhere else - you're gonna get a bite somewhere; just a question of where & when.

----- Dave

elprup, BSN, RN · May 29, 2012

I am always their second choice, because the other choice has/had experience. I totally understand their reasonong, BUT how am I going to get any experience this way? Being a new grad/old grad (with BSN) who took a lower paying job just to get SOME experience, now it all just makes employers look at me like I have done something wrong. HELLO, nobody seems to believe that when the economy flat lined in 2008, exactly when I graduated, there were and still are very few and far between. And always being second choice just does not cut it. Doing everything right these days does not equal a job unless you have experience.

elprup, BSN, RN · May 29, 2012

Sorry, so YES i feel like a failure.

mmc51264, BSN, MSN, RN · May 29, 2012

I say "always the bridesmaid, never the bride" LOL. I just graduated and it was very hard to NOT take the rejection personally. I got the interviews, just never the job. I feel that things happen for a reason and the job that I have waiting for me (NCLEX 6/11) was one I didn't think I wanted. I am going to work for the greatest teachers; she was one of my clinical instructors. I know that it is going to be a great learning experience (it's LTC/rehab) and she will prepare me for a great career. I am going to get my BSN while working and in a year or two, I will be a better nurse than if I had gotten the jobs I thought I wanted.

I was a school teacher and lost my job. I went on, easily 30 job interviews and could not get a job. THAT was hard not to take personally. When I didn't get the first nursing job, I thought to myself that there was NO way I go through all those interviews again. It was hard not to feel defeated going in! I am grateful for the job I have. My old boss (I was CNA-home health) has PRN work for me, too! I have a classmate that turned down the job that I interviewed and did not get and now is complaining that she has no job!!! As ADN grads in a huge college area, she I feel blessed to have gotten a job.

The interviewing process is so hard b/c you get zero feedback. It is hard to fix what you don't know is broke! I have even asked after the fact, but they usually don't want to answer b/c it can come back and bite them in the butt.

Hang in there!!!!!!!