SUPERCHARGE YOUR JOB SEARCH Part 3: No offer? No problem!

ARTICLES

Want to find your ideal job? Need to be able to prepare an excellent CV, answer tough interview questions and impress prospective employers? Lynn Williams, author of Ultimate Job Search, is on hand some more useful advice to power up your job search …

A ‘one-stop shop’ for all job hunters, the new 5th edition of Ultimate Job Search aims to take the stress out of what can be a daunting process, providing advice on every stage of the process, from preparing a powerful CV that will get you noticed, via sample cover letters and emails that come across as genuine, and making a great impression at interviews, to dealing with offers and rejection in a positive manner. 

Part of the best-selling Ultimate series published by Kogan Page, the guidance in this book will help you to shine and demonstrate to future employers that you’re the person for the job. With an exhaustive breadth of detail and real-life up-to-date comments from employers and recruitment professionals, Ultimate Job Search is invaluable to anyone looking to get their dream job at any stage of their career.

In this third and final part of our short series, we’re pleased to present another extract from the new edition. If you like what you read, find out below how to order a copy … with a special discount for QUEST readers!

If the organisation doesn’t make you an offer

There could be several reasons that you weren’t selected this time:

• the interviewer didn’t believe you had the skills or experience needed in the job
• you didn’t convince the interviewer you understood what the job required
• he or she didn’t think you had the personal qualities needed in the job.

The interviewer might be entirely wrong, of course, but, like it or not, that’s what he or she believes. Next time, make sure there’s no way they can overlook your suitability.

Before your next interview …

Make sure that you:

• know exactly what the job entails (use the job ad, the job description and any other information you can get)
• have the competencies required
• can give examples of how, when and where you have demonstrated these in practice
• can present these examples confidently and enthusiastically
• display in your appearance and behaviour the personal qualities the organization wants.

Overcome your disappointment and reply to the rejection letter. By doing so, you maintain a good impression and remind the organisation that you are still interested in the position.

If you liked the job and felt the company was a good place to work, keep in contact. A similar job might come up soon, and the maturity and enthusiasm you’ve displayed might put you in a strong position.

Example post-rejection letter 1

If you are still interested after six months or so, contact the organisation again by letter or email. Even if there isn’t a vacancy, your interviewer may know of something in another department or branch, for example, and let you know about it.

Example post-rejection letter 2

Keep applying

Send out as many CVs as you can and get as much interview experience as possible. The more you do, the more confident you get. Don’t wait for the result of one application before applying for another; keep the momentum up. It’s much easier to shrug off a rejection if you have another interview arranged and five or six applications in the post.

Between interviews, look over your notes and review your performance to see if there’s anything you could do better, or areas you could work on. Practise with friends or colleagues and get their feedback.

If the organisation makes you an offer

Congratulations: all your hard work, research and practising has paid off. Now you have to decide whether:

• you want the job
• you want the job subject to negotiation
• you want the job if you don’t get a better offer
• you don’t want the job.

If you definitely don’t want the job, tell the organisation at once so it can offer it to someone else. If you are undecided, don’t wait until you have made a decision, but get in touch at once. Be enthusiastic and positive, but ask if you can have a couple of days to consider. Weigh up the pros and cons of your current job and decide whether you want to stay, and at what price. Do the same with the job you have been offered. Is it worth accepting as it stands?

Contact anyone who has interviewed you recently but not yet made an offer. Explain the situation and ask if he or she has made a decision yet. The organisation should at least be able to tell you if you are in the running. If you have interviews coming up, make an informed guess about the outcome.

Weigh up the significance of the offer to you. An offer after your first interview is very different from one finally achieved after a dozen tries.

Get your copy! Special offer for QUEST readers

Get invaluable advice on networking, CVs, cover letters, interviews, aptitude and personality tests, offers, rejections and follow-up letters with Ultimate Job Search by Lynn Williams, published by Kogan Page, price £14.99

Use the discount code QUEST20 for 20% off the book when buying direct from the publisher, as well as free delivery to the UK and USA. Find out more at www.koganpage.com/UltimateJobSearch

ABOUT THE SERIES
The Ultimate series contains practical advice on essential job search skills to give you the best chance of getting the job you want. Taking you all the way from starting your job search to completing an interview, it includes guidance on CV or résumé and cover letter writing, practice questions for passing aptitude, psychometric and other employment tests, and reliable advice for interviews.