Friday, 27 June 2014

“Why Should I Reject You? - An Employment Interview Question” - Professor M.S.Rao



“When you leave college, there are thousands of people out there with the same degree you have; when you get a job, there will be thousands of people doing what you want to do for a living. But you are the only person alive who has sole custody of your life.” - Anna Quindlen


During an employment interview, the interview board asks several questions to the job aspirants to test their eligibility, suitability and capability.  Many job aspirants are aware of common interview questions such as ‘Tell me about yourself’, ‘Where do you see yourself five years from now?’ and ‘What are your strengths and weaknesses?’ The job aspirants are well prepared with answers for such questions.  The recruiters may also ask a question, ‘Why should I reject you?’ Most candidates don’t find readymade answers for this question and get rejected finally. Before I offer appropriate answers for this question, let me briefly explain about interview.


What is Interview?

Interview is all about your interaction, communication and negotiation. It is conducted to find out the candidates with a right mindset, toolset and skillset. The employers don’t want to take the risk of recruiting the wrong candidates. It is problematic for the candidates as they lose their motivation levels at the workplace and also for the companies as they lose lots of money, time and energy, if hired wrongly.  Hence, the recruiters look for right pegs in right holes and square pegs in square holes to make sure that the employees lead exciting life in the workplace to enable them to contribute their best to improve organizational bottom lines.


Why Should I Reject You?

When you are asked during employment interview, ‘Why should I reject you?’ it is essential to respond positively to this sensitive question. Candidates should not project their major weaknesses such as ‘you may reject me if you find that I am not confident or competent for this post’. Instead, they must project minor weaknesses that won’t affect their employment prospects and the organization. Avoid highlighting work related weaknesses such as ‘you can reject me if you find that I cannot work in teams’.  Also, avoid responses such as ‘you can reject me if you find that I don’t have right attitude’ as attitude is the major asset for any organization. In fact, HR people hire for attitude and train for skills. To go further, they prefer candidates with right attitude rather than with experience. Hence, for any employer, attitude is the ultimate.  Here are the tentative responses to offer to this question:

Fresh job aspirants can respond as follows: ‘You can reject me since I don’t have work experience’. When only fresh job aspirants attend interview, the recruiters might not consider it a major weakness thus giving an employment opportunity for them. You can also reject me because my accent is not appropriate and my English grammar is not good. When you apply for call center jobs and BPOs where communication skills and accent are given importance, such responses might not be appreciated. Hence, you must be very careful when you respond to this question as you have to keep the sector or industry and the nature of job you are entering.  Therefore, express only minor weaknesses that can be improved through corporate training. It makes easy for employers to recruit you. These responses are applicable for experienced candidates also. Avoid attitudinal issues and work and team related issues as employees have to work in teams to survive in the corporate world.  Therefore, candidates must be careful and tactful while responding to this sensitive question.

To summarize, don’t create any doubt in the minds of the recruiters that you are a weak candidate with major weaknesses. Be tactful to present minor weaknesses in a positive perspective to grab your employment offer. Wishing you good luck!


“Find out what you like doing best and get someone to pay you for doing it.” –Katherine Whitehorn



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Listed in Marquis Who's Who in the World in 2013
Professor M.S.Rao Born for the Students
21 Success Sutras for Leaders: Top 10 Leadership Books of the Year (San Diego University) Amazon URL: http://www.amazon.com/21-Success-Sutras-Leaders-ebook/dp/B00AK98ELI




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