Your resume is amazing! Your cover letter was spot on. You are 100% qualified. You killed it in that interview! You check your email again, only to find a rejection letter. What went wrong? Here are some actual reasons employers have given for turning down a job candidate...
1. You're under qualified.
You went to school for this? You have a master's degree? You've been training/studying for over 15 years? Sorry, not qualified enough and you wouldn't know what to do.
2. You're OVER qualified.
You went to school for this. You have a master's degree. You've been training/studying for over 15 years. That's overkill and you'd be bored.
3. You don't have enough experience.
This is an entry-level position. Naturally we expect you to have 3-5 years of experience doing this sort of work.
4. You're too young.
You are obviously not old enough to have the required experience or knowledge to handle an adult job, even at age 29.
5. You're too old.
You're already 29, so you're really not that relevant. We need someone on the cutting edge.
6. You're single.
Somehow, this is directly related to whether you can do a job or not. I mean, first of all it would be a distraction if you started dating someone. Second, how do we know you can commit to anything??
7. You're married.
You have other priorities and won't be able to commit 100% to your work.
8. You're too talented and/or knowledgeable.
We're afraid you would be better than us. Nothing in your resume really leads us to believe you would act better than us, but we're sure you would. Even after meeting for an interview, we still think you're too good and would make us look bad.
9. Your social media accounts are private.
How are we supposed to creep on you and decide what kind of person you are before we even give you the chance to interview??
10. Your social media accounts are public.
You just share everything with the world, so how can we trust you?
11. You're not good-looking enough.
Our company is looking for someone who fits a certain image. While you are otherwise completely qualified for the job, and the job itself has nothing to do with what you look like, we still feel it is our duty to tell you that you are not hipster enough, skinny enough, tall enough, nor do you possess other desirable physical traits. So we can't hire you.
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