Why job applicants might not be hired for the job they want

Relatability is a key factor of getting employed in most companies, but aspiring applicants may gloss over the relatability during the interview process as they take what the job description is asking for at face value and ignore preparing for the interview portion. 

Brandon Southern, the former Head of Analytics at eBay, Amazon, and Gamestop, shared his opinions on Business Insider on what candidates could do better to get hired, and in his opinion, aspiring applicants need to do more than have experience and meet qualifications. “You and your experience need to be seen as relatable as possible to the job that you’re applying for,” he explained.

Many candidates, during the last five minutes of any interview when invited to enquire about any issues, ask questions that will not help them during the interview process, such as compensation, culture, or remote work. “This is a crucial oversight because without additional details, the candidate is leaving their relatability to chance during the rest of the interview process.” Southern said. Candidates, instead, should be asking about details of the work environment so recruiters can see how they relate to the work scenarios in the workplace and thus feel confident about who they pick for the job. 

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To curb this, Southern said, candidates need to gather as much information up-front about the job, the team, the environment, the technology, the challenges, and why those challenges are important to the business. Candidates need to come to the recruiting call with these questions and ask additional questions. “By treating the recruiting call as a fact-finding mission, you will be equipped to provide the most relatable answers. This will increase your chance of success during the interview process,” he concluded.