Hillary Clinton and Ted Cruz are making headlines this week for their wins for their respective political parties in the Iowa Caucuses this week. But you’ll notice that runners-up Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump are not waiving the white flag just yet. Why? Because the Iowa Caucus is only the first step in a very long election process. For certain job seekers, the presidential campaign trail and the job search likely have some things in common. If you get to the “Iowa Caucus” or first round of interviews in your job search, how do you handle the news that you came in second?
1.Don’t waive the white flag
There’s a reason that Sanders and Trump aren’t giving their concession speeches just yet. They know that they still have other parts of the process they have to show up for. You do too. If you hear news that there is another candidate that is considered a frontrunner, and it’s not you, don’t give up. The interview process is just that, a series of situations designed to get to know you in a formal to more informal setting. The more responsibility you’ll have in your next position, the more intense the interview process is likely to be. -There are exceptions to this, just like every other rule, however, if you’re interviewing for a CFO position, it won’t be a single interview with a couple of stakeholders.
In your next interview, the last thing you want to do is just “show up.” There is a dangerous quote out there that states “80 percent of being successful is just showing up.” This is not the time to merely attend. You still have time to convince your interviewers that you’re the person for the job. Don’t give up, start asking the right questions.
2.Ask what the other candidate has that you don’t
The only way you’ll figure out how to impress your interviewers in your next meeting is to make sure you’re telling them what they want to hear, or telling them about what isn’t on your resume. This is a scary and intimidating question to ask, but in the conversation when you hear that you’re considered the number two candidate, try to find out what the other candidate has that you don’t. Sometimes, you do have what the other candidate has, and you didn’t have the opportunity to discuss it in your interview. -If that’s the case, don’t let the opportunity pass you by to talk about something that will level the playing field between you and the frontrunner. If the frontrunner does have something that you don’t have, figure out why that’s important. A good follow up question for the person delivering the news is, “I understand they have XYZ experience/credential. Why is it important for the person in the position to have XYZ?” This should give you some insight as to whether it’s an essential piece of the role, or merely a “nice to have.” If it’s deemed essential and you don’t have a trump card (something that is even better than what they’re asking for), you’re still not necessarily out.
3.“Good things come to those who wait.”
Now that you’ve moved past your last round of in person interviews, you’ll be moving on to the offer portion of the process. A few different things can happen here; the frontrunner is presented with an offer, you are presented with an offer, or another frontrunner makes it to the front of the pack. If anyone else is presented with an offer, you probably feel like you’re out, and you should move on. However, the person who receives the offer may not take it. They might not take it because they have higher salary requirements, they want more time off, they want the option to work from home x’s days per week, and the employer might not meet all of their demands. In this case, they will either move on to their second candidate (potentially you), and make an offer. We know it never feels great to come in second, but if it’s a job you really want, you should consider the offer. Another possible outcome is that they actually are so impressed with two candidates, they create another position so they can both join the team. However, if you give up in the process or come across as disengaged, you’ll never make it far enough to see if this possibility becomes a reality.
4.Follow up.
If you haven’t heard from your recruiter or interviewer about where they’re at with the offer process, reach out and ask the question. Even if an offer has been extended to someone else, following up to ask how everything is going is not out of line. Now, if you send an email or call daily after an offer has been extended, you’re going come off as not being able to take no for an answer. But placing a call or sending an email to check in a week after you received the news about an offer going out shows that you’re still interested and committed to seeing the process through to the end.
5.Try, try again.
If you receive the news that another candidate has accepted the offer, make sure you send a note to your recruiter and/or hiring manager expressing that you enjoyed getting to know the team, and hope to be considered for another position at the company in the future. If the hiring manager thinks you’re a great fit, oftentimes, you’ll receive a note back asking about your interest in another open position, or something to the effect of “when something opens up on my team, you’ll be the first one to know.” It can be scary to ask if you’d ever be considered for a future position, but it’s your chance to find out if you were “a close second” or if there were concerns about you as a cultural fit or some other factor.
It might seem like an unlikely comparison, a presidential candidate’s path to the presidency and your job search. Of course you are both interviewing for a job, one of you just happens to be interviewing on a global scale, while the other faces at worst a panel of C-suite executives. Another silver lining? At the end of your bid for a new role, you are unlikely to have a storage unit full of red, white and blue swag that you spent thousands of dollars to produce and is now only useful for political campaign historians and campfire kindling. Additionally, you won’t have to wait three years until you can interview for your next job! So even though your job search might have its own set of twists and turns, it could be worse, at least your job interview isn’t fodder for every blogger and journalist across the globe.