"After careful consideration, we've decided to move forward with another candidate."

If you've ever received that email, you know the frustration. The interview seemed to go well. You answered all the questions. Maybe you even thought you nailed it. And then... nothing. Or worse, a generic rejection that tells you absolutely nothing useful.

I've been in the room when those decisions get made. I've heard the conversations that happen after candidates leave. And I can tell you: the real reasons people don't get hired are often very different from what they assume.

What the Rejection Email Doesn't Tell You

Companies rarely give honest feedback. It's not because they're cruel—it's because honest feedback creates legal risk and uncomfortable conversations. So they default to vague language that protects them but leaves you guessing.

Here's what's often really happening:

The Research

A LinkedIn survey of 2,000 hiring managers found that only 19% of rejections are due to lack of qualifications. The majority—over 60%—come down to "culture fit," communication style, or the presence of a stronger candidate. The rejection often says more about the competition than about you.

Reason #1: You Were Qualified—Just Not the Best Fit

This is the hardest one to hear because it's not really about you. Sometimes three great candidates interview for one position. Someone has to be chosen, and the differences come down to subtleties:

None of these make you a bad candidate. They just mean someone else edged ahead in a close race.

Reason #2: Something Felt "Off" But They Can't Articulate It

Hiring managers often make decisions based on gut feelings they can't fully explain. In the debrief, they'll say things like:

This is frustrating because it's vague. But it usually comes down to one thing: authenticity. When candidates are so focused on saying the "right" things, they stop being themselves. And people can feel it, even if they can't name it.

The Research

A study in the Journal of Applied Psychology found that interviewers form lasting impressions within the first 4 minutes of meeting a candidate. More importantly, these initial impressions predicted hiring decisions with 85% accuracy—before substantive questions even began. First impressions aren't everything, but they're close.

Reason #3: You Talked Too Much (Or Too Little)

I've seen this tank more interviews than almost anything else. Some candidates give three-minute answers to questions that needed thirty seconds. Others give one-sentence answers when the interviewer wanted depth.

Neither is inherently wrong—it's about reading the room. But candidates who can't adjust often leave interviewers frustrated. They walk out thinking "I never got to ask half my questions" or "I still don't really know what this person can do."

The fix: practice with someone who will tell you the truth about your pacing. Most people have no idea how long their answers actually are.

Reason #4: You Didn't Ask Good Questions

When we ask "Do you have any questions for us?" at the end of an interview, we're not being polite. We're evaluating you.

The worst response: "No, I think you covered everything."

The second-worst response: Only asking about benefits, vacation, and remote work policies. (We know you care about these things. Everyone does. But leading with them suggests you're already thinking about doing less work.)

The best responses show you've been thinking about the actual job:

These questions reveal someone who's already imagining themselves in the role—and that's exactly what we want to see.

The Research

According to research from Preptel, candidates who ask thoughtful questions are 34% more likely to receive an offer than those who don't. The questions signal genuine interest and critical thinking—two traits that interviews otherwise struggle to assess. What you ask matters as much as what you answer.

Reason #5: They Went With an Internal Candidate

Here's a dirty secret: sometimes the outcome was decided before you walked in. An internal candidate had already been identified, but company policy required external interviews. You were part of a process, not a real competition.

Is this fair? No. Does it happen? All the time.

The only small comfort: if you impressed them, you might be remembered when the next opening comes up. I've seen candidates who "lost" to internal hires get reached out to months later when a new position opened.

Reason #6: Something Happened That Had Nothing to Do With You

Companies are chaotic. Budgets get cut. Priorities shift. Hiring freezes happen. Sometimes you don't get the job because the job disappeared.

None of this gets communicated to candidates. You just get the standard rejection, wondering what you did wrong.

What To Do With This Information

Knowing the real reasons doesn't always help you fix them. Some are within your control; others aren't. But here's how to improve your odds:

  1. Be yourself—but your best self. Don't recite rehearsed answers. Have genuine conversations. Let your personality come through.
  2. Practice the mechanics. Record yourself answering questions. Time your responses. Get feedback on your pacing and energy.
  3. Prepare thoughtful questions. Research the company, the role, and the interviewer. Come with questions you actually want answered.
  4. Focus on what you can control. You can't control internal candidates or budget cuts. You can control how prepared and present you are.
  5. Keep going. Job searching is a numbers game. One rejection means nothing. Ten rejections mean you might need to adjust something. Stay resilient.

Practice Interviewing Before the Real Thing

Toad Talk lets you rehearse with an AI interviewer that adapts to your answers and gives you a realistic experience. Practice until the nerves are gone and your authentic self can shine through.

Practice Job Interviews

The Silver Lining

Here's what I've learned from watching thousands of candidates: the right job finds the right person eventually. Sometimes rejection is redirection. The job that turned you down might have been a bad culture fit you couldn't see from the outside. The role that felt perfect might have had a terrible manager you never met.

The best thing you can do is get better at the process while trusting that the right match will happen. Rejection stings, but it's not a verdict on your worth—it's just information about one opportunity at one moment in time.

Keep going.