How Do You Know If You Got the Job After an Interview? How Do I Know?

[King_Oni]

I obviously still live with my parents, well tomorrow i'm going to this job fair tomorrow at a local museum close to where i live, literally it is called a hiring fair, and no i'm not sitting at home being angry, obviously that does not solve anything, it would be cool, nice if it did but unfortuneately no, i hate how we have to control, be in control of our own destiny, make things happen, take charge and control of our lives because it is a lot of ****in' work, because i hate it when i get denied, rejected from something, yes it is part of life but i hate dealing with it, i know people say that every no gets you closer to a yes, but i would rather get that "Yes" when I want it, not when they want it.

Well, it came across a bit like you were just being sitting at home being angry. So I apologize.

But your parents aren't giving you a proverbial kick in the butt to go do something? Or at least in the past. Did you quit college recently? What did they tell you? Can't imagine they were cool with it. At least I know mine werent, so I had to find a way to get some kind of income.

What if everyone get their way and they'd get a yes whenever they wanted it. That would get out of hand quite fast. Besides, who puts YOU in the position to get your way. You're on of the many... and I think you can even compare that to being on the jobmarket. You're on of many looking for a job.

Actually you don't need to even lie about having a degree in anything. You can lie and say you just took a few classes in said subject that applies to the job interview.
If you have just taken a few classes in the subject there would be no degree so they can't ask you to provide any paper work about it. Makes it easier to lie about without getting caught.
Really, just keep trying. It's a bad economy for job hunting. I know adults that worked for years at union jobs that got fired or layer off cuz of the economy and now they can't even get on at burger king.

But from what I understood he was in college 4 years, got no degree and they told him "well, that's too bad". So he took classes. Question of course is; are those relevant classes?

 

[usa1981]

Hopefully I will get back from Mc D's by in a few days because the manger said he would call back in about 1 1/2 weeks when had worked out all the hours that the employees and new hires.

 

[Spinning Compass]

Regarding lying about a degree--DO NOT DO THIS. Period. It will catch up with you when you least expect it. There was one person where I worked who was fired shortly after receiving Employee of the Month honors; she'd been there several years and was very well-regarded--but somehow it came out that she had forged her credentials. If I recall correctly it had to do with a diploma that had been stolen and somehow someone recognized it as a stolen diploma.

As far as learning if you've gotten the job, yes, I agree the hiring process is full of game-playing, favoritism and the like, but one very big thing that I have heard stressed repeatedly is that your spelling and grammar MUST be 100% perfect. I'm not trying to pick on anyone, but reading over some of the posts, I can see why the person wasn't hired. I realize the Internet is rather informal, and there is a time and place for that, but at the same time, it doesn't hurt to use spell-check and proper capitalization. You don't want to be the person whose cover letter and resume is held up as an example of "how not to do it." And yes, I have been to quite a few talks on how to get a job where this has happened.

 

[King_Oni]

Regarding lying about a degree--DO NOT DO THIS. Period. It will catch up with you when you least expect it. There was one person where I worked who was fired shortly after receiving Employee of the Month honors; she'd been there several years and was very well-regarded--but somehow it came out that she had forged her credentials. If I recall correctly it had to do with a diploma that had been stolen and somehow someone recognized it as a stolen diploma.

As far as learning if you've gotten the job, yes, I agree the hiring process is full of game-playing, favoritism and the like, but one very big thing that I have heard stressed repeatedly is that your spelling and grammar MUST be 100% perfect. I'm not trying to pick on anyone, but reading over some of the posts, I can see why the person wasn't hired. I realize the Internet is rather informal, and there is a time and place for that, but at the same time, it doesn't hurt to use spell-check and proper capitalization. You don't want to be the person whose cover letter and resume is held up as an example of "how not to do it." And yes, I have been to quite a few talks on how to get a job where this has happened.

The other side of the coin might just as well be that your application is flawless in regards to spelling and grammar and they don't hire you because you don't fit the culture in that company (or at least among that level of co-workers you're applying for). Sad but true, but I've had over a dozen of arguments with supervisors that thought my grammar and spelling was way beyond average on the department I worked at, and just by that alone they even wondered if I'd be a fit between the "dumb" and "lazy" (their words; not mine).

As for the lying; I can see where this might bite you in the backside, but to be honest; some people don't have a lot to lose either way. Also; If you're being employee of the month cause you apparently do you job well, but have no degree... and they fire you afterwards because you lied; there is (apart from lying) something really, really wrong with employers and the weight the put into actually having a degree. Apparently that person did the job really good but that doesn't count if you forged a document for whatever reason (the reason might be; I can not land a job and it's a matter of 'survival')

 

[popculturegeeknerd06]

also, when you said that i just want retail, well, okay not literally just retail, does a fast-food place count as retail? if not, then maybe i should have rephrased it to customer-service jobs, like retailers like Wal-Mart, Target, Home Depot, OSH, Sears, JC Penny, Macy's, Best-Buy, Fast-Food places like McDonald's, Burger King, In-N-Out, Carl's Jr., Jack N The Box, overall, Customer service jobs in which you are a Cashier, Sales Associate, doing Stock, Grocery Stores, Bagginig Groceries. Customer Service Jobs instead of Retail Jobs, does that sound more specific now? no offense.

 

[Spinning Compass]

It's my understanding that retail and fast food are two different things.

Now, I am going to probably offend some people but here goes. I have nearly 40 years of work experience, 30 of them at my current job, and I don't have a college degree although I did take some college. I belong to an international professional association. This is to give my credentials and where I am coming from and what I have learned.

Yes, it is true that you can have a resume/cover letter with perfect spelling and grammar and not get hired. But if you want to make sure that you DON'T get hired, get careless with the spelling and grammar. There is so much competition out there that yes, one spelling mistake will disqualify you. That is not just my opinion here. I have heard this countless times from people who are in the business of helping other people get jobs, people who are human resources managers, and others who are in a position to know what they are talking about.

A while back I had to write a short cover letter explaining why I was ready for a promotion. I sent it to my supervisor, saying that this was simply a draft and if there was anything he wanted me to change, to please let me know. He was astounded. He said, "there is not one spelling mistake or grammatical error in this document"--and it was only a draft. My letter stood out simply because, as he said, "we don't see this level of perfection every day." (And yes, I did get the promotion.)

Also, businesses are not charities. They don't "owe" anyone a job. When they hire it is because they have a specific need for a specific type of person. You have to know what they are looking for, what their needs are. I've heard it said over and over again, that you must do your homework. The more you know about the company you are applying at and what their needs are, the more you will stand out above the others, and that even includes McDonalds. You need to sell yourself as the person who can fulfill their needs. If you come across as desperate and I need a job, they will not hire you, because that is not what they are looking for. Yes, it may sound unfair but look at it this way.

From time to time there are things I need done around the house or yard that I am not capable of doing and so I must hire someone to do it. Say for example, I need my roof fixed and I say I am hiring for this job and someone shows up in a wheelchair and says they are desperate, they need a job, should I hire them, pay them my hard-earned money, for something they clearly cannot do (climb up on the roof)? If I did that to everyone who showed up, I would soon run out of money and I would still have a leaky roof. Or if someone shows up who claims they are a professional roofer and it turns out that they lied about it, again, I am out of money and I would still have a leaky roof. Worse yet, if they hurt themselves on my property I am now liable for their medical bills. So I think if any of you have ever "hired" someone to do something only to have it get botched up because they didn't know how to do it, then you will understand why I defend companies. My company was right to fire the person who lied about her degree because we do contract work for other companies who must submit their work to government agencies and there is absolutely no room for dishonesty in this business. Had they kept her on, and our clients, not to mention the government, learned about it, the s***t would have hit the fan big time and instead of one person being out of work there would be hundreds, because we would be shut down by government order.

 

[popculturegeeknerd06]

you said being desperate does not help, but whenever i've submitted job applications to places, people have advised me to call them back, to do a follow-up on the application over the phone, or show up in person, keep contacting Human Resources, the Hiring-Manager, for a while i avoided doing that because I did not want to look, sound desperate, but then people tell me it is not desperate, that it shows you really want the job, it's showing initiative. Also, I feel we as human beings have a right to be desperate for employment, a job, because thats life, thats society, because we as humans all have to work for a living, we don't want to be homeless. This is how I feel about Business owners, hiring-managers, bosses, and of employers, they are selfish, greedy people that obviously do not care about the consumer or the employee, only their money.

 

[Spinning Compass]

Perhaps. But I wonder how many of us here own our own businesses or know someone who owns their own business. Let me tell you, it's a whole different perspective from the other side of the fence. And no, I don't own my own business, but I have had experience hiring people to do jobs.

All too often we tend to demonize the other, whether it is the employee versus the employer or the employer versus the employee. Neither one is productive. And yes, we must work to live. But what is the solution? To have the government step in as in communist/socialist economies and assure a job for everyone? Well, that might be great for some folks, but I have noticed that those kind of economies are not the most creative or innovative economies.

 

[King_Oni]

Perhaps. But I wonder how many of us here own our own businesses or know someone who owns their own business. Let me tell you, it's a whole different perspective from the other side of the fence. And no, I don't own my own business, but I have had experience hiring people to do jobs.

All too often we tend to demonize the other, whether it is the employee versus the employer or the employer versus the employee. Neither one is productive. And yes, we must work to live. But what is the solution? To have the government step in as in communist/socialist economies and assure a job for everyone? Well, that might be great for some folks, but I have noticed that those kind of economies are not the most creative or innovative economies.

I know quite a lot of people that have their own business, ranging from someone having a tattooshop, running a comicbookstore or having a small online company going on.

So yeah, I understand what the perspective you're aiming for is. Those companies want quality in their employees. However, with most people I do know, they run a one-man show. There's only one guy in the tattooshop. Everything is his work there. And that might be for the reason that he cannot find other people suited for his business in the area, it also might be to cut costs. Comicbookstore, same deal.

I don't think the government should have to step in, I think big companies (big storechains for example) should hold responsibilty to keep people employed. That should be a responsibility you take on for being an established part of society. But because they want maximum profit they are only aiming for maximum commercial talents. In terms of business that is a good thing. However, it's the same companies that are whining if people cannot spend more cause of economic crisis, which in result might as well be from half the population being without jobs (or people having a 2nd job, making other people not getting 1 job). There's a change of mentality that needs to be there, not neccesarily involvement of the government telling them what they can and cannot do.

That being said; yes I can also see what some stores (just to go with the stores example here) don't hire people who have bad referalls. Bad referalls should be more honest IMO. Good referalls too though. But if I were to get a bad referall stating "he was not flexible". Why is that? Is that because I'm not flexible in any way, or is it because I don't want to do overtime on a daily basis (and actually have a problem with horrible management and willing to point that out. I'm not shutting up about it, cause it affects me personally)? Cause and effect are usually not mentioned in referalls. Now, the referall issue I pull up because you might have a bad one, due to your own fault. Government shouldn't step in to force companies to hire those people, but they should look into why these referalls are and eventually offer support on how to get it all on track.

There's way too much superficial stuff going on, and I feel that they're not spending resources on the "future" instead of the "now" which is what they're doing. Heck, they're offering courses to people who are unemployed just to get them into a job NOW. Truth is, if I start a course and through the course I get hired, government is cutting me off and kinda hoping the employer is funding my course. That wont happen and I'm back on unemployment. Yes, it's that silly. But that's the focus on the now. If I need a course for being employed, I might have a short route to go there and only do the required classes and be done with it in 2 years. Leave me in college for 2 years on benefits, if I have my degree I do have a better chance to get a job now AND in the future.

Don't ask me for any sources, but it's just some observation I made, when I went on looking for jobs in the past. I hardly doubt Holland is THAT much different from the US.

 

[popculturegeeknerd06]

i'm depressed, mad, frustrated again, so far this year, i've had 4 job interviews, got rejected from both, did not get hired, my most recent job interview was this past Wednesday, it was where I used to work, Target, eventhough when I last worked there it was only a seasonal, temporary job, but i had a job interview at a Different Target location than the one i used to work at, i found out this morning the position got filled, as in I did not get hired, I found out by calling HR. Also, the way this Target scheduled the Interview for me was unlike anything before, because the day I submitted my Application, within an hour or 2 they called me first, they initiated, called to set up the Interview for me, unlike before, whenever I submitted a Job Application, i would have to wait a couple of days or a week or over a week until they would call me to set up an Interview, schedule it, or I had to initiate, call them, chase them.

 

[popculturegeeknerd06]

5 Job Interviews now since the Beginning of the Year in January, still unemployed

 

[King_Oni]

Did any of them give you reasons why they didn't hire you?

I mean, if you can't land a job, they should at some point give you an idea why you can't get a job. I'm sure not all of them do, but some might if you ask for it. Besides if you head for the job center, they'd usually ask you "why didn't you get those jobs?" thus knowing why you don't have it benefits you as well as them for guidance.

 

[popculturegeeknerd06]

no they did not, do employers ever tell the applicant specifically why they rejected them? as to why they did not hire them? I thought they never tell you

 

[King_Oni]

They sometimes do, sometimes they don't. If they don't that's usually to cover themselves up for an lawsuit coming up. They can't tell you they don't want to hire you because they for example don't like the way you look. They can however, say "you don't fit the profile".

However, what I'm trying to say is that you should see if you can collect pointers as to why they don't want to hire you. You're being stuck in limbo right now... cause in a way you have no clue whatsoever why they don't hire you, and they don't tell you what to fix. Especially if you go visit guidance at a job center... they are eager to know why you're not being hired, and perhaps offer some help there.. but only if you have been told what's wrong. No don't dont always do so, and usually the put it off as "we found someone more suitable" but still... you can ask cause IF they give you an answer, you at least know what to work on for your next interview.

 

[popculturegeeknerd06]

yeah, although it's hard for me to remember all of the questions in the Job Interview they asked me, so when I go visit guidance at a Job Center, it's hard to explain everything, i feel tempted to call and ask.

 

[Arashi222]

Usually in my experience if you get an interview they tell you what the time frame is to hear back from them. Most often they call and just tell you they had someone more suitable or like in the case for one I had I knew when I went in after them reading off what they wanted that I wasn't a match but they still called me and told me I was not what they were looking for. Some I've had them send me an impersonal email. Other times its just a wait and see or send them an updating email to ask politely about it they may have so many applicants that its hard to remember you know who was who really. Good Luck though

 

[popculturegeeknerd06]

i hate how employers do not call you or e-mail back to let you know you got rejected, that you did not get the job, so now i've had 6 job interviews in the past 3 or 4 months.

 

[NateSean]

The job hunt is one huge lesson in trial in error. These are some of the mistakes I have made. I've made mistakes that would embarrass me if I made them again. Rather than bore you with all of the details I'm going to sum up the three biggest mistakes I feel cost me major opportunities in the past.

1: Talking too much
There are two job interviews that come to mind. The first one was a teacher's assistant position at the United Counseling Service's daycare in Bennington, Vermont.

The director was an older woman and she knew what she was doing. She asked me a lot of technical questions such as, “What would you do if a child runs away from you?”

Now, I had experience working in a daycare. But something about this woman's demeanor really made me feel like I was under the microscope.

“Well,” I replied. “I wouldn't chase him at all. Because I know he's playing with me, right. And I wouldn't want to encourage him, so I would do what my parents do and pretend to not notice it so that he would think I'm not interested and he'd come back.”

That was heavily paraphrased of course but it's about the size of the answer I actually gave. Obviously I would not just stand there because if that little kid runs into the road I'm going to bolt after him regardless. But again the director made me feel like every question was a trick question and that no answer I gave would be the right one.

Sometimes you will get an interviewer who doesn't buy the image. They will throw you off with questions like that because frankly, they have no intention of hiring you and maybe they're amused by your uneasiness. But let me just bring up an interview where that wasn't the case.

A few years later I was living in Burlington, Vermont and I applied for a job at the Howard Center, which is an organization that helps people with severe mental and physical handicaps and their families. The interviewer hit me with a similar question.


“Lets say you are with a woman who is mentally challenged and she wants to buy a candy bar at the store. She chooses two, but she only has enough money for one. You're at the register and a line is behind you. How do you handle it?”

Without trying to paraphrase the exact responses I gave, let me just say that there were about six responses and they were all as wordy and as uncertain as that answer I gave at the daycare several years earlier. Fortunately the interviewer smiled and asked me the same question. I told her I didn't know.

Coming clean and letting her know that I was stumped turned out to my advantage. She gave me the answer and it made sense to me.

The only reason I didn't get the job I was after is because I didn't have a driver's license however I was offered a position as a substitute, which I didn't go for because I needed something steadier.

The lesson here is to try to keep answers to a few sentences minimum. Answer as honestly as you can, don't stammer and if you don't seem to know the answer the interviewer wants than be honest about that as well.

2: Not Talking at All
During an Interview at EB Games the manager left the room and had his assistant sit with me. The assistant didn't ask me any questions so I sat there assuming the manager would return. Little did I know that I was basically being tested to determine my sociability. Since EB Games and Gamestop are mostly about the sales, communication with customers is key.

Silence is golden at times but it can kill you in the end. Use your judgment. You can talk too much or not talk at all. But one way or the other it's not the interviewer that needs the job.




3: And this is big...

We all get frustrated. Just let it be known that there is a fine line between being too honest and being just honest enough to prove you're someone with integrity. You will be asked this question. And however you answer it will determine a lot about your future with the company/retail outlet, etc.

“Where do you see yourself in (Insert number of years here)?”


I was applying for a janitor's position at an Old Navy when the District Manager asked me this gem. And this, mind you, was the umpteenth in a long line of applications I had filled out. Sometimes the job market in your area is just that bad or the people hiring don't know what they're looking for. But the point is I was frustrated. So my reply was clearly not what the DM wanted to here.


“Well, if I don't get this job,” I said, in the most sincere sounding voice that I could muster. “I see myself [on the street just outside] begging for change.”


Needless to say that was probably the clincher for me. I didn't get called in to mop the floors every morning for four days a week. I guess they wanted to know where I planned to take my janitorial skills, but that's a story for another day.

 

[Kelly]

i hate how employers do not call you or e-mail back to let you know you got rejected, that you did not get the job, so now i've had 6 job interviews in the past 3 or 4 months.

I know it's annoying that they didn't get back to you but maybe they were very very busy. Depending on the job there may have been hundreds of applicants and I'm sure the person in charge of looking through CV's /doing interviews hasn't got time to respond to every applicant when there is a large volume of them (as well as doing their usual job).

For example my mother was after a part time job to raise some cash around xmas last year, she saw a job cleaning an office and enquired about it, over 200 people had also enquired (or so the person at the job centre had told her). If all of those people had sent a CV to the company I seriously doubt that company would have the time to respond to each applicant, more then likely they would have sorted out a few dozen applicants to interview and chucked the rest of the CV's in a shredder. They would have interviewed all those people picked one and possibly let the others know but again it would depend on if the person in charge of hiring / firing had the time.

It sucks but that's life for you, just keep applying and try not to let it get to you so much, good luck.

 

[popculturegeeknerd06]

i just ****in' hate how they require, expect experience for even entry-level jobs, customer-service jobs, minimum-wage paying jobs nowadays.