On Tuesday, July 13th I presented for a group of job seekers out at the Scarlett Oaks campus at there Return to Work Center here in Cincinnati. The topic touched on “Why does it seem like ‘NO’ is always the answer.” I thought it was an appropriate topic, especially since many of the attendees were individuals who had been in their own search for a long period of time.

Many applications, interviews, no feedback and months later; they still have not found or been selected for a job that they may feel they are perfect for.
As a job-seeker no one wants to hear the word NO. On the surface it may come across as a quick answer from a company to a candidate that, to the business, is not the right candidate. However, to the job-seeker it may seem as a cop-out. I think that the “NO” can really be a way to diagnose a few factors:

  1. The process of a company you are applying to,
  2. The process/approach that the candidate is taking,
  3. Is it the company or is it you?
  4. The role or career path you are seeking, or
  5. Whether or not you should be working a “traditional job” at all,

I have included my presentation, which may be a little hard to follow since it was truly used for facilitation and not a resource. Hope you can get most of the points.

So how do you as a job-seeker handle the “NO’s” in your job search? As a recruiter or hiring manager, what is it that makes you say no to a candidate?

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