Should I Contact A Company That Chose Not To Hire Me?

A few months ago I went on a job interview. The interview went well, but in the end I didn't get the job. I suspect the problem was that they were looking for a "purple squirrel", and I was just a squirrel. In other words I didn't meet their idealized perfect candidate, but I came as close as anyone would.

I have been able to figure out that they still have the position open that I interviewed for. I didn't lose the job to someone else. I would still like to work for this company if I could. Is it a good idea to contact them to see if they have changed their minds at all? Since this company has had this job open for several months since I interviewed, I'm hoping that they realize they will never find a "purple squirrel" and be willing to consider me. So is this a good idea, and if so how long should I wait until I contact them?

Bill in Reston, Virginia said: A few months ago I went on a job interview. The interview went well, but in the end I didn't get the job. I suspect the problem was that they were looking for a "purple squirrel", and I was just a squirrel. In other words I didn't meet their idealized perfect candidate, but I came as close as anyone would.

I have been able to figure out that they still have the position open that I interviewed for. I didn't lose the job to someone else. I would still like to work for this company if I could. Is it a good idea to contact them to see if they have changed their minds at all? Since this company has had this job open for several months since I interviewed, I'm hoping that they realize they will never find a "purple squirrel" and be willing to consider me. So is this a good idea, and if so how long should I wait until I contact them?

It depends if you think you are a purple squirrel yet? Yeah, go ahead and contact them or apply again but if you are just a grey squirrel, don't get your hopes up.

Most of the time, if you see an ad running over and over again, this is usually a bad sign.

If you're going to contact them, I see no loss or benefit in waiting. It's already been several months since your interview, so waiting any longer isn't necessary, IMO.

It sounds like they're willing to leave the position vacant indefinitely rather than hire you or any of the people they've interviewed thus far. You have nothing to lose by contacting them, however. You never know. Stranger things have happened, but I too would not get my hopes up.

This happened to me before. They don't change their minds rather they'd contact me for the same job weeks later not remembering how they contacted me before. Example: I got an email about a recruiter job from this woman, and the woman who interviewed me had a bad attitude and I hated her. A few weeks later the same woman emailed me for the same interview with this woman again, forgetting about how I had interviewed weeks before and gotten rejected. I didn't bother answering her email though as it was a waste of time. I remember I started to tell her about myself, said where I went to college, and she asked me "What did you learn there?" I tried answering saying I took a lot of liberal arts classes and I learned different skills like how to talk about what I read better, how to write better, etc., but she had an attitude and said "No I mean what did you learn there?" like I knew what she was thinking when I didn't.

If you weren't their "purple squirrel" and you still want to work for the company, I would call them about 2 weeks later and ask if they have any other different positions available that they think would be a better fit for you and the company.