Why You Should Put Your Past Behind You to Interview Your Best

Resumes are all about past behavior; employers are interested in the future. There is a tendency for job candidates to lean too heavily on their resume and talk about what they did in the past. Your resume got you to the interview – congratulations, now focus on what you can do for the company moving forward.

You task is to help the interviewer see you in the job producing good work and dropping profit to the bottom line. You cannot do this by focusing on what you have accomplished. Your accomplishments are important only in so far as they support your statements about what you can do in the future. Here are some strategies:

First know the job
The more you know about the specific requirements of the job the better you will be able to address how you will function in the job. Begin the interview by asking  questions about the job, its day-to-day responsibilities, critical job requirements, and success metrics. Make sure you and the interviewer are in complete agreement about the job you are being interviewed to fill.

Connect your background to the critical job requirements
Help the interviewer become comfortable that you have the experience, background skill to do the job by relating the job requirements to things you have done. But don’t get stuck here!

Talk about benefits you bring to the job
Features (your knowledge, skills, experience) address your basic qualities, however they do not address your future performance. Benefits, how the company will profit from employing you, addresses the future and constitutes the primary focus of the employer. Mention your features but focus on your benefits. A benefits statement sounds like this “I have 3 years of experience using social media [feature]. This means I will be able to quickly establish a social media strategy that will have a presence on all the major social media sites increasing traffic and your ad revenue [benefit].”

Talk “as if”
Approach the interview as if you were talking about a day-to-day issues with a boss and talk as if you are in the position. Example, ask about immediate priorities or projects. Once you have a task to focus on say something similar to “This is how I think we should approach solving this or completing this project.”

Present yourself as flexible and adaptable
Employers are looking for people that are open to learning and are adaptable to new environments and jobs. These are all qualities that relate to the future and speak to your performance in a new job. Talk about prior situations where you exhibited these qualities and then relate those situations to how you will become successful in the future in your new job.

The focus of the interview should not be on how good you were in your prior jobs but how great you will be in your future job.

InterviewBest keep you focused on the future

Do You Know Your Competencies? You Should to Interview Your Best

High Performance

Employers hire people based on their ability to perform a job. The ability to perform a job is based on the “competencies” a person brings to the position. What the heck are competencies and what do they have to do with interviewing?

Lets start defining competencies by  doing some differentiation. Job descriptions typically list the tasks or functions and responsibilities for a role, whereas competencies list the abilities needed to conduct those tasks or functions. Thus, competencies are the basic skills you offer an employer and are independent of the specific job for which you are interviewing. Employers are primarily interested in your competencies and during the interview you should make sure the interviewer hears all about your outstanding competencies.

Here are the competencies you should be communicating:

Managing Resources: Identifies, organizes, plans, and allocates resources

• Time – selects goal-relevant activities, ranks them, allocates time, and prepares and follows schedules
• Money – Prepare budgets, makes forecasts, keeps records
• Material and facilities – acquires, stores, allocates, and uses materials or space
• Human resources – assesses skills and distributes work accordingly, evaluates performance and provides feedback

Managing Information: Acquires and evaluates information

• Acquires and evaluates information
• Organizes and maintains information
• Interprets and communicates information
• Uses computers to process information

Using Systems: Manages complex relationships

• Understands systems – knows how social, organizational, and technological systems work
• Monitors and corrects performance – distinguishes trends, predicts impacts on system operations, diagnoses deviations in systems performance and corrects malfunctions
• Improves or designs systems – suggests modifications to existing systems and develops new or alternative systems to improve performance

Understanding Technology: Works with a variety of technologies

• Selects technology – chooses procedures, tools, or equipment including computers and related technologies
• Applies technology to task – understands intent and proper procedures for setup and operation of equipment
• Maintains and troubleshoots equipment – prevents, identifies, or solves problems with equipment, including computers and other technologies

Basic Skills: Reads, writes, performs arithmetic and mathematical operations, listens, and speaks

• Reading – locates, understands, and interprets written information in prose and in documents such as manuals, graphs, and schedules
• Writing – communicates thoughts, ideas, information, and messages in writing; and creates documents such as letters, directions, manuals, reports, graphs, and flow charts
• Arithmetic/mathematics – performs basic computations and approaches practical problems by choosing appropriately from a variety of mathematical techniques
• Listening – receives, attends to, interprets, and responds to verbal messages and other cues
• Speaking – organizes ideas and communicates orally

Thinking Skills: Thinks creatively, makes decisions, solves problems, visualizes, knows how to learn, and reasons

• Creative thinking – generates new ideas
• Decision making – specifies goals and constraints, generates alternatives, considers risks, and  evaluates and chooses best alternatives
• Problem solving – recognizes problems and devises and implements plan of action
• Visualizing – organizes and processes symbols
• Knowing how to learn – uses efficient learning techniques to acquire and apply new knowledge and skills
• Reasoning – discovers a rule or principle underlying the relationship between two or more objects and applies it when solving a problem

Personal Qualities: Responsibility, self-esteem, sociability, self-management, integrity, and honesty

• Responsibility – exerting a high level of effort and perseveres towards goal attainment
• Self-esteem – believes in own self-worth and maintains a positive self view
• Sociability – demonstrates understanding, friendliness, adaptability, empathy, and politeness in group settings
• Self-management – assesses self accurately, setting personal goals, monitoring progress, and exhibiting self-control
• Integrity/honesty – chooses ethical courses of action

Here is the way to use this list-

1. Think of those competencies which are most critical to the position for which you are applying. Be prepared to answer questions related to those competencies.
2. Ask the  question, “What are the basic competencies a person has to have to be successful in this job?”
3. Think of situations, on and off the job, where you used one of these competencies.  Write a brief description of the situation. During the interview, if you are asked a question where you can use an example of one  your competency do so.

Good interviews are based on a common understanding of the job and the skills a successful employee has to have. Thus, knowing about the competencies required to perform the job is critical for both the candidate and the hiring manager. Focusing on competencies assures a best “fit hiring” decision for both candidate and company.

InterviewBest helps organize and communicate competencies

Recruiters You Can Help Candidates Interview Their Best

Most recruiters provide 30 minutes or less of interview preparation to their candidates. A recruiter’s interview preparation typically consists of informing the candidate about position details, company culture, and interviewer(s) background/personality.  Recruiters do not have the time, nor do they see a benefit, in providing more general interviewing skills and strategies. Imagine if 45 to 60 minutes of interview preparation increased the send-out-to-hire ratio by 3 to 5 percent. The ROI on that time would be very high.

The following are suggestions recruiters can use to maximize interview performance with a minimum increase of time.

Talk sales
An interview is a sales call so talk sales skills. Helping candidates think of the interview as a sales call  gives them an orientation and a structure to prepare for the interview and then guide the interview. Just as a sales person would do, candidates need to define the problem to be solved, understand the company’s needs, and then prepare to communicate how their skills and experience can be applied to solve the problem.

What's the problem?

Take a problem solving approach
Recruiters can help candidates define the problem they are being hired to solve and then suggest ways to link their background and skills to solving the problem.  An accountant is not hired to do accounting. An accountant is hired to solve the problem/challenge of making sure the books balance. A project manager is not being hired to do project management. They are being hired to make sure projects get done correctly, on time, and within budget. What is the bottom line problem the candidate is being hired to solve? Have them speak to the problem.

Interview Presentation

Make a sales pitch
Candidates should not depend on the interviewer’s skills and questions for a successful interview. Like a sales person, candidates should be active in the interview communicating why they are a good fit for the position. Recruiters should encourage candidates to be assertive, not aggressive, in making their sales pitch.

Its benefits not features
Most candidates do an adequate job of talking about their background, experience and skills; their features. Few candidates talk about the benefits their features will provide to the hiring company. Simply by asking, “How will your experience provide benefit?” the recruiter encourages the candidate to think about benefits VS features and the advantage of selling themselves on what they can do rather than what they have done. Any discussion between the recruiter and candidate should be focused on the valuable benefits the candidate provides.

The one most important question to ask
Every candidate should have in writing the one most important interview question to ask which is, “Based on my background and experience, what do you think would be the greatest challenges for me in this position?’ This question is essentially the sales objection question “Is there any reason why you would not buy this car today?” The objection question provides feedback about the candidate’s fit for the position from the interviewer’s perspective as well as gives the candidate an opportunity to address any potential objection both in the interview and in the follow-through letter.

By introducing the above five interview strategies and asking questions that help candidates establish a sales orientation, recruiters will go a long way towards better interview preparation.  Better interview preparation will result in higher placement ratios and greater customer satisfaction for both candidates and clients companies.

Know What Your Scared of to Interview Your Best

When I do interview coaching with job candidates they often tell me they are nervous about the interview. As soon as I hear that statement I respond by asking them “what are you scared of”. This is an important question and I work with the candidate to get a specific and detailed answer.

First it is important to change the word “nervous” or “anxious” to “scared”. Nervousness or anxiety is generalized fear which is not anchored to a specific concern. By using the word “scared” the fear can be anchored to a specific concern and then the concern can be addressed.

Typical interview fears
Not being able to answer a question: Candidates often state they are scared they will be asked questions they cannot answer. Many candidates try to prepare for this by studying the most frequently asked interview questions. A good tactic, but it is impossible to prepare to answer all of the possible 2000+ interview questions. More importantly, understand your fear of not answering a question. What is your fear of what happens if you are asked a question and you do not know the answer? Does that mean you blow the interview and lose the job? Does it mean that you are not qualified for the job? Does it mean you have to feel stupid and inadequate? Does it mean you will never get a job? Identify these, often irrational, fears and decide if they are true. When you discover they are not, the fear will diminish.

Getting nervous and rambling:
Many candidates are aware of a tendency to ramble and go on tangents when nervous. To avoid this, never speak for more than two minutes at any one time and use a specific format like STAR (situation, task, action, result) to stay focused.

Not being qualified for the job:
On occasion a candidate does not understand why they were invited for an interview and they doubt their match with the position. The fear here is of not being qualified and performing poorly in the interview. To combat this fear realize that a company rarely wastes interview time on unqualified candidates. They must see something in your background and experience that interests them. A perfectly reasonable question for you to ask in the interview is ‘What is it about my background and experience  interests you in relation to this position?”

Ultimately, not getting the job:
The ultimate fear is doing poorly in the interview, not being offered a desirable position and feeling terrible about it. This is exacerbated when a person is unemployed and desperate to get back to work. Every interview has tremendous importance and a high price for failure. The best way to combat this fear is to have a active job search with multiple opportunities. If all your eggs are in one interview basket the interview becomes far more scary. If you have multiple interviews and the possibility of more, each interview is less important and less scary. Maintain an active job search!

Fear of being judged and rejected
Adults do not like to be in the position of being evaluated or judged by another person who has the ability to dramatically influence our lives. This feels powerless and scary. The reality is you are judging them as well. Do you want to work at that company and for that person?I understand you may be desperate for a job, however a bad job is worse than no job at all. You will be unhappy and then out of the job looking for another job with a short term job to explain on your resume.

The general strategy to dealing with interview fear is to state specifically what you are scared of and then understand the rationality of your fear.  Interviews are very subjective and are not definitive statements of your experience, qualification, or worth as an employee or person. Prepare for your interview, perform your best, keep active in your search and don’t be scared.

Use an InterviewBest Presentation to reduce your interview fears

Stay in the Interview to Interview Your Best

Job interviews take on many different forms and formats. Most people think of the traditional interview where the candidate and interviewer(s) sit in an office and talk to one another. However, interviews also include lunch or dinner or a tour of the office or factory. No matter where you are during an interview, stay focused and stay in the interview.

Don’t let your positivity slip
One of the basic tenants of any interview is to be positive about everything. Most candidates are aware that they should not say anything negative about prior employers during an interview. However, when talking informally at lunch or when taking a tour of a facility candidates make slips. For example, when walking through a production facility a candidate mentioned how outdated and antiquated his previous employer’s machines and production processes were. Too much negativity!

Stay focused
During a lunch or dinner it is natural to become less formal and more relaxed, however you are still being evaluated for the job. Certainly, table manners are critical so brush up on your Emily Post. In addition, keep the discussion focused on professional issues as much as possible. You want your personality to come through and you want the hiring manager to like you. However, it is not a time to talk about your quirky side or any unusual habits. Also, stay away from controversial issues like politics or religion.

Meeting potential co-workers
During a tour of the office or factory you will be introduced to company employees. They are part of your interview and you need to connect with them as well. A firm handshake, good eye contact, and a smile will support your candidacy. Any brief conversation you can engage in will also communicate a friendliness and leave a positive impression. Potential co-workers includes receptionists and security staff. Be friendly, be positive, interact, connect.

If you are taken to lunch or for a tour of the office/facility that is a positive sign. Poor candidates are shown the door not the office. You have probably made a good connection with the interviewer and they want to “sell” you on the job as well as evaluate how you impress potential co-workers. By staying focused and “in the interview” you will ace the interview and land the job.

An InterviewBest presentation will help you stay focused

Differentiate Yourself From the Other Stars to Interview Your Best

You are a star in a very dense universe. What does this have to do with interviewing? Everything! Most candidates don’t think about how they are perceived in the bigger world or how they compare to hundreds of competitors. They focus only on their own basic skills which does not differentiate them from all the other stars.

Most candidates claim: “I have the skills; I’m a good, smart person; and I’ll work really hard for you.” That line describes you and about 20,000 other “stars”.  Skills aren’t enough these days because they’re just a baseline of what you offer. What you need to promote is your unique skills that will provide different and remarkable benefit to the hiring company.

Here is an example, I am working with a client that was a mid-level manager working in a large telecommunications company doing accounts receivables. Accounts receivable sounded pretty ho-hum until she began to talk about managing monthly receivables for Federal and Government business units for contracts valued between $2M and $20M. Expertise at collecting money from the government as Obama’s stimulus package gets delivered; that is a great selling proposition. Collecting government funds is the most unique benefit or value she can offer to an employer.

Take your value a step further
When preparing for an interview, first understand the company’s and the hiring manager’s basic needs and understand how your skills, experience, education match those needs. Then take it a step further and identify your outstanding area(s) of value; and yes we all have one or more. Once you have identified your outstanding value, prepare examples of times when you applied that value successfully in a work situation. During your interview be sure to talk about these examples. Do not leave the interview without having clearly communicated the outstanding, and differentiating, value you will bring to the company. If the interviewer does not ask questions that elicit the value just say, “I have outstanding value I will bring to your company, I would like to give you examples”.

Your Hired

In our current economy companies are interviewing more candidates for each position. Their belief is there are a lot of stars looking for jobs and they can be choosier than in the past. Every person interviewed meets the basic requirements of the position. You need to meet those requirements and then shine brighter to ace the interview and land the job.

Use an Interview Presentation to communicate your unique value

Know What Your Body is Saying While Your Mouth is Moving to Interview Your Best

What does your gut say?

Many interviewers claim they make hiring decisions based on their “gut reaction”. Have you considered what makes up a gut reaction; most interviewers have not. Gut reactions are complex, however a substantial portion is based on unconsciously reading body language. Body language is a combination of eye movement, body orientation, hand movement, head position, and leg activity. When messages from all these parts are combined there is a lot your body is saying. The important question; is your body communicating a “hire me” message?

Lets examine some body language-

Eyes
Eye contact 60% of the time indicates interest and agreement however, eye contact 100% of the time indicates aggression. Frequent avoidance of eye contact may indicate a person is hiding something or lacks confidence. Rapid blinking indicates resistance to what is being said.

In your interview think about your eye contact. When you are asked a difficult question and you are not sure of the answers to you will tend to look away. This communicates lack of confidence in your answer and lets the interviewer know you are unsure maybe even fabricating an answer.

Think about maintaining good eye contact even when uncertain or nervous about what you are saying.

Your head
When a person’s head is tilted towards you it indicates interest. When tilted away at an angle with glances from the corner of the eye, it indicates suspicion, mistrust and disbelief. The head supported on a hand indicates boredom. Nodding indicates interest and agreement.

During the interview keep your head tilted toward the interviewer particularly when they are speaking. They will get the message you are interested in what they are saying. Avoid cradling your head in your hands. Nod in response to what the interviewer is saying, although not like a bobble head doll.

Your hands
Here is some hand communication:

• When hands are open and palms up, it conveys truthfulness and openness
• Hidden palms indicate something held back
• Clenched hands indicate tension, discomfort, or anger
• Hands covering the mouth or the nose or tugging at the ear indicates that a lie may be concealed
• A limp handshake with palm up betrays submission
• A firm handshake with palm down conveys strength and confidence
• A hand gripping the other hand, wrist or elbow communicates a desire to quell rising anxiety
• A hand behind the head betrays a need to fend anxiety, danger or discomfort.
• Steepled hands bear power and proclaims confidence and business
• The hand stroking the chin indicates ongoing evaluation of something just said
• Hands flat on the table indicate readiness to agree

Pay attention to your hands. What are they communicating to the interviewer? What are the interviewer’s hands communicating to you?

Body position
A closed position, slouching with arms crossed, communicates evasiveness and resistance. When you lean towards the interviewer you sends signals of interest. By leaning away you communicate disinterest or resistance.

In your interview keep an open body posture. If you cross your legs do not turn sideways. If your interviewer displays a closed body posture things are not going well.

Your doing well in the interview when
The interviewer maintains eye contact  70% of the time and is smiling. She faces you directly, nods frequently, leans toward you, and her arms and legs are uncrossed.

If you are not getting these body signs you will naturally,based on your gut reaction, tend to tighten up. Stay open, take a deep breath, and think about what is going on in the interview. You can even ask for some feedback about what the interviewer is thinking.

Use an interview presentation to improve your communication

How to Kick it Up a Notch to Interview Your Best

Which One Are You?

You are competing against 12-15 other interviewees, are you different?

If you read about job interviews every day like I do you would quickly realize that most of the advice is really elementary including:

• Good handshake
• Eye contact
• Be on time
• Dress right
• Don’t chew gum
• Be ready to answer questions

All good suggestions,  but way too elementary to win an interview in this competitive environment. So here are some things you can do to really improve your interviewing.

Your interview is a sales call be prepared to sell
An interview is a sales call; be a sales person. Like any good sales person, do a needs analysis (research) about the company and hiring manager, understand the value you will contribute to the company, and be assertive about selling yourself in the interview. An interview will only be a question and answer interrogation if you let it happen. Go in with the mindset of any good sales person, you have important information to communicate and you won’t leave without telling your story. There is no reason to be pushy or arrogant, but being assertive is a great quality in any employee.

Pay attention to how sales people sell things to you. What works what does not? Read information and books about selling. You don’t need to be a professional sales person, but you should develop a sales orientation to kick your interviews up a notch.

Be a Presenter
When is the last time you were in a sales situation and the sales person did not have a prepared sales presentation? Be prepared to do a brief focused presentation in your interview, even if you have not been asked to prepare a presentation for the interview. Your presentation should focus on how you meet the job requirements and why you are an excellent candidate. (Go to www.interviewbest.com for comprehensive interview presentation information). Just preparing to present will kick your interview up a notch.

Communicate your personal brand
Personal branding has become important for career management. What is your personal brand? Your brand is what people think and feel about you and it is what  makes you successful on the job. Determine what it is and be sure to talk about your brand in the interview. If you have successfully communicated your brand, when you leave the interview the interviewers will have your brand words in their mind. “That guy Joe is a really analytical team leader who is persistent and customer focused. We could use a person like him.”

Prepare a Strategic Action Plan
Companies are all about performance. Tell them what you will achieve in the first 30 and 60 days to provide value to the company. A Strategic Action Plan displays knowledge about the company, the industry, the job and communicates interest and motivation. Think of it as the implementation part of your sales presentation. Don’t worry about being 100% accuarate just presenting a plan will kick your performance up a notch.

Prepare success stories
People love to hear stories. Stories capture the imagination and stir emotions. Prepare stories of when you were at your best in you career and your life. Use these stories as responses to the questions you are asked in the interview. Question “Have you ever had to work with a challenging client?” Tell a story including what was the situation, what did you have to overcome, what actions did you take and what was the outcome. Don’t take more than two minutes to tell your story.

Many people ask me, “Are many job candidates doing these things?” My answer is “absolutely not” However, the candidates that are find themselves impressing hiring managers, acing interviews, and landing jobs!

Kick Your Interview Up a Notch

Why Your Brain Keeps You From Interviewing Your Best

We are all walking around with primitive brains more suited for surviving in caves than managing the demands of the 21st century (including interviews).

One of the things our primitive brain does is that when we get stressed it narrows our thinking. When extremely stressed we can only think of one of two things-fight or flight. However, even under lower levels of stress we lose full access to our creativity, memory, problem-solving skills, humor, and interpersonal skills. Here is some proof-have you ever been in a situation where you were in a heated or stressful discussion and the moment you leave the room you bang yourself on the forehead and say to yourself  “I should have said…” The moment you left the room you calmed down a bit, your thinking expanded, and you remembered what you could have said. I just spoke with a client that when driving home remembered a lot of things he wished he had said in his interview.

Interviews are stressful situations. Even if you do a great job of preparation, you will be nervous and your thinking will be diminished; know it plan for it. Here are a some suggestions for overcoming your primitive brain:

Remember this

Prepare a list of reminders:
On a pad of paper write down the things you want to remember in the interview. Include things like smile, good eye contact, no ums, take a deep breath, and don’t fidget. Also include a list of questions to ask, a list of accomplishments, a reminder to ask for a business card, and the interviewer’s name(s). As you take notes on the pad you will see your reminders and remember to follow them.

Take a deep breath
Swami’s have know for centuries that good breath control leads to calm. During your interview, about every 5 minutes, take a good deep diaphragmatic breath. This will calm you down and improve your thinking. Put this on your pad as one of the things to remember.

Slow down your answers
An interview is not a timed test. You do not have to have immediate answers for every question. Slow down and take some time to formulate your answers. By slowing down you will be less stressed and will think more clearly.

Shift your position
When under stress many people tend to tense their muscles which raises their heart beat. By shifting your position you will relax your muscles and you will calm down.

Smile
When your facial muscles are smiling it causes a calming effect. So smile in your interview. This will also invite the interviewer to smile and help relax her.

Prepare an interview presentation
The best way to support your primitive brain is to have a written presentation to use during your interview. An interview presentation will insure you communicate all the information the interviewer needs to know about you to make a well informed hiring decision. Because all the information is written, none of it will be forgotten and you will be more confidant and relaxed.

You primitive brain does a couple of other unhelpful things including focusing on the negative and assuming the worst in the face of uncertainty. So you probably did better in your interview than you think and just because you haven’t heard yet it does not mean you did not get the job.

Help your brain with an interview presentation

Forget the Outcome- Manage the Process to Interview Your Best

Shooting Craps

Unfortunately, for most companies the choice of whom to hire is a subjective and uncoordinated process with the interview the most subjective part. I have spoken with recruiters from major corporations that use staggeringly expensive formal interview management systems and they report that the final decision still comes down to “gut feel”. The outcome of your interview is in “the hands of the gods” so let it go.

Every job candidate wants to be selected for the job and the belief is that if they do well in the interview they will be chosen. Having worked with hundreds of job candidates and recruiters, I have seen numerous situations where an excellent candidate was not hired due to an idiosyncratic perception on the part of one person on the interview team. The candidate talked too much or too little, they asked too few or too many questions, they seemed too aggressive or too passive, they didn’t have enough experience or they were overqualified, their skills were too narrow or too broad, etc etc. In addition, there are numerous occasions where after interviewing a number of candidates the job is either put on hold or given to an internal candidate.

Subjected to this random subjective process what can a candidate do? There is only one thing to do; make sure you do an excellent job in the interview and then move on. Focus on the process not the outcome. Doing an excellent job in the interview includes the following:

Prepare
Know the company, the industry, and the job. Read the company’s website thoroughly including press releases. Google the company and see what is being written about it. See if you can find information about the people that will be interviewing you. Prepare a list of questions you want to ask in the interview.

Interview Presentation

Develop an interview presentation
The most powerful interview strategy is to use a presentation in your interview to communicate how your background skills and experience matches the critical requirements  of the job and why you are an excellent candidate for the position. The presentation is a visual aide which will guide the interview and communicate to the hiring manager all the information he needs to know to make a decision about hiring you.

Manage the nuts and bolts
Be there on time (15 minutes early), dressed correctly have a good firm handshake, good eye contact and smile. Be prepared to answer the most common questions such as tell me about yourself and what are your greatest strengths and weaknesses. Carry a leather looking portfolio and be prepared to take notes. Sit forward in your chair, speak assertively, and focus on the benefits you will bring to the job.

Follow-through strong
After the interview write a good follow-through letter to each person with whom you interviewed. Don’t just thank them, reiterate why you are an excellent candidate for the position and cite examples from the interview.

Debrief
After the interview  take time to debrief your performance. What went well what do you want to improve? How did you interact with the interviewer. Did you use examples of past performance when answering questions? How did you do with your presentation?

Now you have  done the most you can do for this interview. And the outcome it is beyond your control. Begin to focus on the next opportunity, the next networking meeting, the next interview. Time to move on.