The number one thing you are doing that is keeping you from your dream job

Nobody needs to tell you it’s a tough market out there. Millions of people are seeking work so employers can be incredibly selective in their hiring and can disqualify you for petty reasons like printing your resume on plain copier paper or for using the wrong font. An MBA used to be a fast track to a corner office, but today MBAs are having to settle for jobs that used to be filled by recent bachelor grads. Nevertheless, many of us have been successful in getting to the point of getting interviews, only to be shot down afterword. Wouldn’t it be nice to get some insight into why your interview failed to garner you that job?

AnnMarie McIlwain, Career Fuel’s CEO, thinks she knows why many people fail at this stage of the job search. In a recent article in Business Insider, she states, ”Many job-seekers do not call or email when they say they will or when prospective employers think they should.” A lot of us, me included, have developed some bad habits when it comes to responding to phone calls and emails and it’s costing us when it comes to our job searches. Like it or not, everything we do in the process leading up to getting a job is considered a reflection of our ability to handle the job. Sure we know that the way we talk and dress are critical, but way too many of us have neglected our post interview communication skills and that’s a real turn-off for hiring managers. (Check out the whole article here.)

Hard as it may be to believe, I see this trend in my own work every day. People who are well qualified for positions make promises and commitments and fail to keep them. Even an unspoken expectation can keep you from being considered for a position if it is an industry expectation. In this age of lightning fast electronic communications failure to respond in a timely manner is a direct reflection on your ability to perform. Like it or not, you may have disqualified yourself from your last interview for something you didn’t think was important.

Some things are simply expected. You should not have to be told to send a thank you note following an interview. In most cases this should be done in writing on real stationary, but in tech savvy companies an email will suffice if it is done very shortly after the interview. Thank you letters should go out the same day as the interview, emails within the hour. Other items, like requests for copies of your resume, a list of references or answers to questions should be handled as quickly as possible and before the agreed on deadline if at all possible. If you are going to have a problem filling a request notify the potential employer as quickly as possible. You are far better off to err on the side over over communicating than doing the opposite.