DaveGreen

Head of Sales

Arsonist

Politicker

Valued Contributor

What's the worst reason you got rejected for a job?

I'll go first: (and note, this was after 4 rounds of interviews + a 2 hour assessment, all of which were in English)

Hiring manager: "Congratulations, we would like to make you an offer! Just one thing: do you speak German?"

Me: "No, but I would love to learn!"

Hiring manager: "Oh, sorry this job requires you to speak German"

At no point in the interviewing process there was any mention of this. And this was for a large international where the job required travelling to all over the world.

I was pretty bummed out but this did lead me to landing my first software sales job - so not so sad anymore, just a lot of SADNESS ;)

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103 comments

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CoorsKing

WR Officer

Retired King of the Coors Knights

When I was in college I was interviewing for a new role. After the interview they did a quick tour of the office and there was a ping pong table smack in the middle. The GVP of sales happened to be there and was bragging that no one in the office had ever beat him. Well naturally I challenged him, smoked him, and never got a call back. That was the day I learned you always let the prospect win.

funcoupons

WR Officer

👑

LOL it's funny to think about him sulking in his office because some kid beat him at ping pong.

CoorsKing

WR Officer

Retired King of the Coors Knights

He definitely looked like the type that punches walls

DaveGreen

Arsonist

Head of Sales

Haha, love this! What a sore loser though - glad you smoked him.

Sgt_Trollingham

Valued Contributor

Business Development Director

I was told that I wasn't a "fit" from a culture standpoint... I challenged that, and they ended up offering me the job. I won the "Newcomer of the Year" award and broke the sales record for a single month... I quit after 6 months because the culture was toxic! I guess they weren't wrong hahaha

DaveGreen

Arsonist

Head of Sales

Haha! Great job on challenging their decision - from experience, I always love it when rejected candidates get back and do this. Shows grit. And sometimes you end up hiring an awesome teammate nonetheless!

Sgt_Trollingham

Valued Contributor

Business Development Director

I mean for sales it is such a show not tell about how you deal with rejection. What's the worst that can happen? They reject you again?

DaveGreen

Arsonist

Head of Sales

Same in life - if you would quit every time you get a rejection, you won't get far

funcoupons

WR Officer

👑

Wow, they sure wasted a ton of their time by not asking if you speak German in the first conversation...

SaaSguy

Tycoon

Account Executive

My current job gave me LATAM as a territory and I don't speak Spanish.... I think because I have a very hispanic last name they kinda assumed?

Annonny

Big Shot

Account Executive

I got rejected from McDonald's to work as a cook cause I didn't speak Spanish....the GM said sorry but I need you to speak Spanish. My response was well I'm sorry I didn't know the burgers only understood Spanish, said thank you anyway and left from the interview.

DaveGreen

Arsonist

-1

Head of Sales

No intiendo

Annonny

Big Shot

Account Executive

Hahaha Lo siento!

Whosaidit

Politicker

Business Development Representative

“Not enough experience”. For a first year SDR role, it made no since.

asalesguy

Member

SAE (Senior Account Executive)

Maybe they didn't want to hire someone who doesn't know the difference between sense and since.

DaveGreen

Arsonist

-1

Head of Sales

I mean, depends. If you answered "no" to the question "have you ever seen and/or used a telephone before" you weren't qualified for sure.

Incognito

WR Officer

Master of Disaster

Tattoos. I didn’t find out the reason until 9 months later when they came back and begged me to take a job with them once they realized how awesome I am 😎

DaveGreen

Arsonist

Head of Sales

I mean, you must be awesome cuz you're tatted up!

Sgt_Trollingham

Valued Contributor

Business Development Director

Did you take the job?

Incognito

WR Officer

Master of Disaster

Yes - they apologized and said that they didn’t entirely know who I was before, and that the client base is very conservative (understandable that they would be hesitant to hire someone that could potentially be a PR risk). at the time there really wasn’t anyone else at my level with visible tattoos - I mean, this was back in 2007. I was just hitting the peak of my career so I was starting to get a lot of press and they definitely noticed, plus, I was already successfully interacting with their clients anyway. There still isn’t anyone as heavily tattooed as I am in that industry, and I still get a “pass” because of my accomplishments and professional track record. I was based out of Mitt Romney’s barn for a season FFS. But yeah, I worked for them off and on for over 3-4 years and I still consider them the best friends and mentors.

KendallRoy

Politicker

Salad bar assistant in 2013. The owner said I didn't have enough salad experience. Exact quote.

Incognito

WR Officer

Master of Disaster

Please tell me you said “but I toss salads all the time”

KendallRoy

Politicker

I said fine, I'll just work at McDonald's. Then proceeded to be rejected by them 4 times.

Then eventually I landed an outsourced ISR job pounding the phones, bypassed fast food and retail, and the rest is history

Incognito

WR Officer

Master of Disaster

I think you missed my clever pun…..

DaveGreen

Arsonist

Head of Sales

What even is salad experience, lol

DrunkenArt

Politicker

Sales Representative

When I was in college, I went through 2 phone screenings and then 2 interviews Zoom style for an entry level sales job. The 5th interview, I was flown to their corporate campus and interviewed with 3 more people in person. After all of that, they emailed me back saying they wanted someone with more experience for an entry level job.

DaveGreen

Arsonist

Head of Sales

Ah the classic ‘we’d love for you to have 15 years of experience straight out of college’…

DrunkenArt

Politicker

Sales Representative

Right!? All that for a job that paid $35k a year nonetheless

DaveGreen

Arsonist

Head of Sales

Well, at least you were flown to another city which is cool - hope you didn't have to pay for your flights and stay at least

DrunkenArt

Politicker

Sales Representative

Nope! Flight, meals, hotel were comped

Thesamiam13x

Celebrated Contributor

Sales

Yea I hate that answer, I went through multiple 4th round interviews and by the end of it all, that's the answer I get. Why couldn't you tell me that after the 1st or 2nd round?!?!?

cw95

Politicker

Sales Development Lead

Straight out of Uni, months applying for Jobs - went to an assessment centre, got an interview, travelled 200 miles to London twice in a week for two interviews and a presentation for a company for them to reject me on the basis of 'Worried about the gap in my CV since I left Uni'....

Modro

Valued Contributor

Senior Account Executive

I applied to a SaaS AI start up and was rejected by the CEO because he thinks I am a top sales person and I have more experience than his existing sales team so it’s unfair to them to hire me hahaha

DaveGreen

Arsonist

Head of Sales

That’s just… sad.. are they still around?

Modro

Valued Contributor

Senior Account Executive

Yeah they are.. this was just last week

DaveGreen

Arsonist

Head of Sales

Okay, well... be average and ... be average I guess, lol

Riss

Opinionated

I don’t even know anymore 🤪

I failed an intelligence test they gave me. But the test was total bullshit, had things like baseball references etc., IQ type puzzle quizzes, and I didn't realize it was timed so only got through half the questions lol

So I wrote them a strongly worded email back about how this test is biased and also the dumbest thing I've had to take to prove my abilities, and coming back in the face of adversity is the best test of sales acumen, etc. etc. and I shouldn't be rejected

So they responded and said I'd convinced them, and they'd move me onto the next step....which was another intelligence test lmfao

I failed that one too and just gave up at that point.

poweredbycaffeine

WR Lieutenant

☕️

"You are the candidate we want and need to grow our business in X vertical, but you're too expensive for our current budget."

This was after they confirmed my base and OTE requirements several times in the interview process. Got down to the end and they hired a guy that came and went in 6 months.

DaveGreen

Arsonist

Head of Sales

That's what you get for not paying a competitive salary - sales people are not afraid to jump on the next best thing for some more cash

Stratifyz

Big Shot

Account Executive

I love it when this shit happens.

Something similar happened to me and the team lead constantly reached out to me letting me know how bad the new hires were.

Broncosfan

Politicker

Account Manager

I was told I was too strategic for their sales. Seemed extremely absurd to me but ok then.

DaveGreen

Arsonist

Head of Sales

Some orgs just want monkeys man...

DungeonsNDemos

Big Shot

Rolling 20's all day

I feel like at that point the silver lining would be you don't have to work for a company that employs people who are so unorganized that they forget to mention something so crucial.

DaveGreen

Arsonist

Head of Sales

For sure - a mistake can happen, but they had the a lot of chances to fix this one..

fuzzy

Notable Contributor

CMO (Chief Meme Officer)

I applied to be a flight attendant on referral from a friend for Jet Blue. I aced the interview but was told I didn’t fit the image. My friend told me “I wasn’t gay enough.”

DaveGreen

Arsonist

Head of Sales

Haha wow!

Kinonez

Celebrated Contributor

War Room Enthusiast

I went for 3 or 4 interviews, killed them all and had a final test to get hired, went to the office got a 97 on it, the recruiter said that all there was left was to meet my new boss and if he approved I’d get the job.

I was sitting down and he walked in, small guy around 1.60 (5.2) I naturally stand up smiling to shake his hand (I’m a 19 year old who is 1.98 6.5) he looks up at me and walks out the door.

I look confused at the recruiter, and he said “maybe you should have remained on the chair”

never got called back again.

DaveGreen

Arsonist

Head of Sales

Dude got some serious issues - small peepee energy for sure

funcoupons

WR Officer

👑

Napoleon Complex

Kinonez

Celebrated Contributor

War Room Enthusiast

hahhahaha this comment made my day xD

Kinonez

Celebrated Contributor

War Room Enthusiast

My thoughts exactly at that moment. I did land another job a week later, now I look back and laugh it off. I also don't stand up if the guy is short xD

AlphaCharlie

Arsonist

Account executive

hahaha this gold right here!

AlphaCharlie

Arsonist

Account executive

I am a short girl, 1.50 (no idea how much in feet) but I would not mind having someone taller working for me if they are taller.

Kinonez

Celebrated Contributor

War Room Enthusiast

I think guys tend to have this issue more than girls

AlphaCharlie

Arsonist

Account executive

Yeah you are right women don't care

Blackwargreymon

Politicker

MDR

I was told that I wasn't a "fit" from a culture standpoint... I challenged that, and they ended up offering me the job.

Clashingsoulsspell

Politicker

ISR

I was told that I wasn't a "fit" from a culture standpoint...

cw95

Politicker

Sales Development Lead

Applied for a Tech Start Up in which they wanted a BD with experience, CEO replied saying 'Thanks but we want someone fresh out of Uni' interesting.

DaveGreen

Arsonist

Head of Sales

Sounds like my girlfriend, she also never knows what she wants

cw95

Politicker

Sales Development Lead

hahaha stay strong.

KendallRoy

Politicker

Sounds like by "experience" they want someone with 1-2 years experience they can pay peanuts for.

HappyGilmore

Politicker

Account Executive

I didn't even get a reason for not getting a job, just told a month after the interview and multiple follow up emails with a company that they wanted to move in a different direction. This rejection was also after 3 phone screens and me paying hundreds of dollars to fly across the country and interview in person with multiple people.

DaveGreen

Arsonist

Head of Sales

when money isn't an object...

the_sonk_master

Opinionated

Account Manager

Worst I got was because in the interview I used the filler phrase, "you know" too much, clearly binge watching the first season of Fargo and slightly developing a minor Minnesota-esque accent was not appreciated

DaveGreen

Arsonist

Head of Sales

You know, they do have a point, you know. However still pretty ridiculous. you know?

aiko

Politicker

Sr. Account Executive

I'm too bubbly... their loss

DaveGreen

Arsonist

Head of Sales

Bubbles make champagne taste so good

SellMemesNotDreams

Regional Key Account Manager

"You're too ambitious for this role we are hiring. We have concern on your long term commitment to this role."

This position was for SMB AE for a global company.

DaveGreen

Arsonist

Head of Sales

You can't just be shooting for the stars, it's too much!

SellMemesNotDreams

Regional Key Account Manager

True, I think being ambitious is a red flag to them when it comes to hiring an AE. 😔😔

RegisIsLaw

Good Citizen

Director, Strategic Business Development

"We really like your tenacity, but we would want to soften you up a bit for our sales team." Pass.

DaveGreen

Arsonist

Head of Sales

Were they trying to hire for marketing and pass it as sales?

RegisIsLaw

Good Citizen

Director, Strategic Business Development

An early stage start-up. Generally want you to "shadow" the CEO’s selling style.

DaveGreen

Arsonist

Head of Sales

Sure, and that's oftentimes what you want to be wary for - most founder CEOs are not salespeople. Therefore making sure finding the right timing to switch from founder led sales to hiring a VP / HoS is crucial for the engine to keep running.

TheRealPezDog

Notable Contributor

Account Manager

Das ist nicht zu gut.

DaveGreen

Arsonist

Head of Sales

Nein man. Schade ey

GrindingSales

Politicker

Account Executive

That's ridiculous to waste that much of your time before telling you that....sounds like they didn't know how to let you know they picked someone else.

Mine was being told I didn't get the job because I filled out they couldn't contact my past employer because no one still worked there that worked with me. They thought it was shady and wouldn't give me a second chance to explain after 2 interviews and an assessment.

DaveGreen

Arsonist

Head of Sales

Couldn't they just call your old boss/manager at his/her new company?

Maximum_flop

Celebrated Contributor

Account Executive

I got rejected at Zara when I was 16 because I didn't get one of the interview questions right.

The Question: "How many stores do we have worldwide?"

DaveGreen

Arsonist

Head of Sales

2250 stores - if anyone was also wondering

i_got_the_need_for_leads

Old School Bravo

Account Executive

After I left teaching, I was looking for a sales job in edtech. I only applied to jobs that wanted former teachers. I made it through a couple of interviews with one company (that was looking for former teachers). At the end of the final interview I heard, "You don't have enough sales experience."........ "Um, yeah because I have been teaching for the last 5 years."

DaveGreen

Arsonist

Head of Sales

Yea, you should've been hitting the phones whilst teaching - that's what all teachers do so they can have sales experience..

SignThis_SalesGirl

Good Citizen

Director of Business Development

After a 7 interviews/meeting process I was one of 3 final candidates. I was turned down and the reason they gave me was that I don't have enough prospecting experience. My response was a quick "Pardon me? You might want to check you've called the right person, cause that's literally what I've spent 90% of my time over the last decade doing"... After such a lengthy process, I was so annoyed that I reached out to one of the board members through a mutual friend. We happened to be out for drinks with the same person one evening and I later found out that the HR person was fired cause they were constantly making mistakes like that. She later went on to work for their competitor and almost got sued for intentionally sabotaging the company. I laughed but C'est la vie.

DaveGreen

Arsonist

Head of Sales

Damn. That's a hard one to swallow I can imagine... Just the one HR person messing everything up.

Also - 7 interviews!! That's what you call a lengthy process.

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DaveGreen

What's the worst reason you got rejected for a job?

103 comments

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