10 Reasons You're Not Getting a Second Interview

One of the hardest challenges to overcome throughout the recruitment process is understanding why you aren’t moving past the initial interview stage.

You’ve nailed the cover letter and the resume. You’ve impressed the panel enough to be invited for an interview and you thought you answered the questions as well as you could.

So, why the radio silence from the hiring panel? And what more do you have to do to get that elusive second interview?

Recruitment is an emotional business. As a job applicant, you’re keen to work for this specific employer and you put your heart into your application, so to be unsuccessful can feel like a kick in the guts.

But failing to move past the first round of interviews doesn’t mean that you’ve done something wrong. It could mean that there was simply another candidate who was a better match, or it could be that the recruitment timeframe has led to changing priorities for the employer.

What Can You Do if You Are Failing to Get Past the First Interview?

If you are worried about the lack of second interviews (or job offers), there are a few things that you can do to improve your interview technique and boost your chance of moving into the second round of interviews.

Review Your Interview Technique

After your first job interview, it’s good practice to write a few notes about how you felt the interview went.

You could write down what questions you were asked and a quick summary of your answers.

This will help you to decide if:

• You gave the recruiters the answers that they were looking for
• You you gave the best first impression
• You think you did enough to get the job

If you are repeatedly dropping out of the recruitment process at the same stage, then use these notes as a starting point for future interview preparation.

Don’t Be Afraid to Ask for Detailed Feedback From Recruiters

After the interview, don’t be afraid to ask the recruiter for some feedback on your performance.

Some employers may provide feedback as standard (particularly if they are using automation within their recruitment processes). Others may be reluctant to share feedback – particularly smaller companies that may not have the time to respond to every single applicant.

If you do ask for feedback, make it clear that you appreciate their time and would welcome the opportunity to learn more. You can also use this as a chance to thank them for their initial interest and request that they keep your details on file for future openings.

If you are lucky enough to receive feedback, it is likely to be relatively generic, but you can use the information to compare against your written notes.

Perhaps you were all in agreement about certain elements that could be improved, or maybe they will identify weaknesses that you didn’t know you had.

If so, you can turn this into a positive. You can use their constructive feedback to change your interview technique, giving you a greater chance of success in the future.

10 Reasons You're Not Getting a Second Interview

There are many reasons why you may not be getting a second interview. Here are 10 of the most common reasons – some of which may be in your control, others may be completely out of your hands.

This list should help you to work out what you can do to improve your future interview performance.

Reasons That You Can Control

Here are the most common reasons why you may be failing to achieve that elusive second interview.

It is worth reviewing these before any future interviews to support your interview preparation and to make sure that you are not making the same mistakes again.

1. You Didn’t Prepare Enough for Your First Interview

We talk a lot about preparing for interviews. This is about taking the time to fully understand what an employer is looking for and how you can demonstrate that you are the right person for the role.

One of the most common interview mistakes which can prevent a second interview is that the candidate has failed to prepare.

Recruiters go to interviews thinking that they are about to hire you – after all, they’ve already reviewed your cover letter and your CV or resume and have been impressed enough to invite you to the next stage.

They are waiting to be wowed.

You should remember that a job interview isn’t just about showcasing your qualifications and experience. It’s about helping an employer to assess your excitement and passion for this role and this company specifically.

They want to know that you have:

• Spent time reviewing the job description and that you’re aware of what the role entails
• Taken the time to research them as a company and know their values, their mission and their corporate strategy
• Prepared enough to answer interview questions well, giving key examples and using the STAR technique
• Prepared questions to ask them based on your understanding of the role

If you don’t have any questions for them or you are unable to fully answer their interview questions, they may feel let down by you. They’ll take this as a lack of effort and will question your commitment.

To overcome this, you must prepare carefully for your interviews. Think about what skills they are looking for and how you can demonstrate them.

We’ve published a wide range of articles to help you prepare for a job interview.

2. You Came Across as a Poor Cultural Fit

Recruiters aren’t just looking for specific skills. They also want to find those applicants who will fit in well with their existing teams and can hit the ground running.

So much of work is based on getting on with the people that you work with, and recruiters must understand more about your personality and your working style.

If you’re applying for a large employer, the HR team may likely ask you to complete a personality test before any second interviews. This is so they can understand more about who you are as a person.

They can use the data to determine how well you would fit into the company and whether your appointment is likely to be a success or not.

For example, if you are an extroverted personality, you’re likely to be unhappy working individually at home. Likewise, if you prefer to work independently in a quiet environment, having a desk in a large open-plan office surrounded by co-workers may prevent you from working as effectively as you would like.

You may find that other less-qualified candidates may achieve that second interview ahead of you. This is because, culturally, they may be a better fit for that team and will be more likely to succeed in the job role.

To overcome the 'cultural fit' element of recruitment, you should spend time researching how the company works.

Use sites like LinkedIn, Glassdoor or other social media to establish what the corporate culture is and figure out if this suits your personality.

3. You Failed to Follow Instructions in Your First Interview

This is another basic error that many job applicants make. Your first face-to-face interview is your first opportunity to make a positive impression. You should always pay close attention to any joining instructions that you may be given because it will show your ability to listen to what is being said.

For example, if you’ve been asked to arrive at a certain time or use a specific entrance or ask for a specifically named contact, then you need to make sure you adhere to these instructions.

Similarly, if you’re asked to bring a portfolio of your work in a specific format or bring in various forms of ID to facilitate a background check, then you need to show you have paid attention.

You may have nailed the answers to the questions and you may be the perfect fit – both skills-wise and culturally. But if you’ve failed to follow the most basic instructions, the recruiter may be reluctant to invite you to attend a second interview.

4. The Recruiter Isn’t Sure You Care About the Company

During an interview, you need to go above and beyond to show that you are interested in working for the company. They want to know that you’re going to become an advocate and that you’ll work hard to help them achieve everything they want.

It may sound callous, but a hiring manager doesn’t care about what you can get from the appointment. Not during the first initial interview anyway. Of course, later down the line (perhaps at the second interview or during the onboarding process) they’ll start to focus on how they can help you achieve your career ambitions.

But the first interview is very much focused on how you can help the company progress rather than the other way around.

If your questions to the recruiter are based on ‘what’s in it for you’ – such as salary, employee perks, health insurance or vacation time, then they’ll potentially look elsewhere.

These are elements that are best left to the negotiation stage of the recruitment process (that normally comes after an offer is made), so you should focus on what you can do for the company above and beyond anything else.

5. Your Social Media Is Too Revealing

It may surprise you to realize how many employers will look at your public social media profiles as part of the recruitment process.

You may have a fabulous resume and you may have made a great first impression at your initial interview, but if the recruiter googles your name and your social media pages show a different side to you, they may have second thoughts.

Negative traits on social media include being overly political, posting controversial comments or inappropriate/drunk selfies, or even frequent spelling and grammar issues.

Of course, you have the right to post whatever you like on your social media, but remember that it is accessible to anyone. If a potential recruiter doesn’t like what they see, they may use this as part of their decision-making process when deciding who to invite to a second interview.

To overcome this, we suggest that you use strict privacy settings on your social media pages. This will limit who can see your profiles.

If you do want to remain publicly available, you should ensure that all content is appropriate to be seen by your potential boss.

Consider using your social media to showcase your knowledge and enthusiasm by posting interesting and smart content relevant to the industry in question.

6. You Didn’t Follow up After the Interview

A top tip for improving your chances of being invited to a second interview is to send a polite note to the recruiter after the first interview, thanking them for the opportunity.

A formal post-interview thank you letter or email should almost be a continuation of your cover letter:

• It should thank the recruiter for taking the time to speak with you
• It should reiterate your skills and capability to do the job (particularly now you know much more about what it entails)
• It should encourage the recruiter to have a positive lasting impression of you as a person

Your post-interview follow-up letter should be sent within 24 to 48 hours of the interview and should be addressed to the person who interviewed you.

Like the cover letter, your thank you should be grammatically correct and free of any spelling mistakes or typos.

Remember to pay close attention to the information provided before your first interview – if the letter states that they will decide after a particular date, do not chase up for any further information until that date has passed.

Reasons That You Are Unable to Control

Here are four more reasons why you may not be getting that second interview but that are completely out of your hands.

7. Other Candidates Were Better Qualified

When it comes to recruitment, everything depends on the caliber of candidates. You may be perfect for the job at hand, but if another applicant has slightly more experience than you, your lack of success simply comes down to luck.

You may even come across a situation where the company has already earmarked the job role for an internal candidate but is required to advertise externally.

In these instances, there’s nothing you can do. However, you can view the experience of writing your cover letter and resume, as well as attending the interview, as good practice.

8. The Company’s Needs Have Changed

Recruitment is a lengthy process. It takes time to identify recruitment needs and put into place a recruitment strategy to find that perfect person.

By the time the interviews take place, many different elements could derail the recruitment plans.

Perhaps the company has had a reduction in budget or maybe their internal teams have changed, and the advertised role is no longer available.

External factors such as the global economy can also impact a company’s ability to recruit through no fault of their own.

It can seem hugely frustrating to go through the interview process for seemingly little reason, but employers will likely keep your details on file. If they think that you are a good fit for them, they may remember you for future opportunities.

9. You’re Overqualified for the Position

This is another frustrating habit that recruiters can have.

Sometimes you can have all the credentials (and more) that they need, but a recruiter simply believes you are overqualified for the role.

They may have doubts that you are interested in working for them for the long-term.

Recruitment is extremely expensive for employers. If they are investing heavily in the recruitment and onboarding, they want to feel that they are investing in an individual who will remain with them for a long time.

If you are applying for a job role where you know that you are overqualified (perhaps you’re making a career change or maybe you are looking for a job role that offers a better work-life balance), you should anticipate this coming up in your job interview.

You should try to explain to the recruiter why you want to work for them and what your transferrable skills are that will help you to succeed in the role. It’s about setting expectations and helping to reiterate that you’re not looking for a short tenure – you’re willing and able to join their team whole-heartedly.

10. You Didn’t Click With the Interviewer

A lot of the time, interviews are about fostering positive relationships between the applicant and the employer. Sometimes, if there’s not a good synergy between two people, it can count against you.

It’s hard to quantify what this means. You may well have the credentials required, and you may have answered the questions accurately, but something is preventing that specific hiring manager from picking you for a second interview.

Recruitment is about choosing the people that employers want to work with. It’s an entirely subjective decision and it’s a situation where if you were interviewed by someone else, you could easily be invited to a second interview.

Therefore, you shouldn’t take this too much to heart. It’s not something you can control.

You should view it as a positive. If a person isn’t sure that they like you, it’s never going to be an easy working relationship.

To overcome this in the future, perhaps work on your first impression. Make sure that you’re smiling, you are listening to what is being said and that you are making eye contact.

These may sound like simple hints, but they can play an important role in helping someone to think favorably of you.

Final Thoughts

By now you should be clearer on a few of the common reasons why you may not be achieving that longed-for second interview.

In many cases, the reasons why may be completely out of your control; in other circumstances, there could be a few practical tips that could help to improve your chances for success.

The best advice we can share is to ensure that you have prepared as much as possible for your first interview.

By showing that you have a keen interest in the employer as a company, understanding exactly what they are looking for and anticipating what questions you may be asked, you can fly through the first interview and give yourself the best chance of being invited to attend a second.

If you’re unsure of how to prepare for an interview, why not read through the variety of articles published here at WikiJob? We are here to help you through each stage of your recruitment journey, from career horoscopes, through to drafting cover letters, writing resumes, acing personality tests and flourishing at an interview.