For many people, successes and failures in the job hunt are rather mysterious. Very rare is the hiring manager who will describe in detail why they chose to hire you; rarer still is the hiring manager who will explain why they chose to hire one of your competitors. We suspect that sometimes a job search may hang on a minute detail, but often we aren’t certain which details are helping or hurting us.

I recently conducted an informal survey to learn how frequently a job was obtained or lost due to a tiny detail. Almost everyone seems to have at least one story. Here are a few I found to be useful food for thought.

One colleague told me the story of two job offers: one he was hoping to receive, and one he was prepared to accept out of desperation if nothing better came along. He had been applying over and over again at one very large company, for any open position. While he had applied for his “dream job” within the company, he was ready to take any job offer they would extend to him, just to get his foot in the door.

My colleague was invited on an interview for one of the lesser positions, and made a favorable impression. The company made him an offer for the lesser job, and he believed that it would be necessary to accept it in order to work for the company, since he’d received no response from the application for his dream job. He called a friend already working within the company, to let the friend know about his decision. His friend was shocked. Apparently, the company had already made a decision to offer my colleague the dream job—they just hadn’t told him yet. With this information, my colleague wisely turned down the job offer for the lesser position and promptly received an offer for his dream job instead. My colleague’s experience demonstrates how helpful it can be to rely upon your contacts rather than trying to shoulder the burdens of a job hunt by yourself. One well-connected friend can be the difference between the job of a lifetime and having to settle.

A good friend shared with me a conversation she had with her new boss. After she had interviewed for a position, she was told that the hiring manager would make a decision within a week. When she did not hear from the hiring manager within that week, she assumed she had not been chosen. However, she decided to send a thank-you note anyway, to thank the hiring manager for interviewing her. Shortly thereafter, the hiring manager called and offered her the job. The reason? The brief thank-you note. Apparently, although there had been many competitors vying for the same job, my friend was the only one who sent a thank-you note after the interview. It made such an impression that she was hired immediately, because that kind of thoughtfulness and attention to detail were qualities they sought in an employee.

Years ago while I was still in school, I applied for a clerk position with a local law firm. I interviewed with two attorneys and waited to hear whether any hiring decisions had been made. After waiting a few weeks with no word, I called, and was told that no decision had been made—but they planned to make one soon. I waited another two weeks and called again. Again I was told that no decisions had been made, but they would be made soon. Since the law firm had no designated hiring partner, this process was repeated several times, while the attorneys tried to find time to meet, review their notes from interviews and make a decision. Finally, I received a job offer and began work. After I had been employed for several months, one of the attorneys shared with me the reason I had been selected: although they agreed that I was qualified to perform the work, I was chosen over the other applicants for the simple reason that I was the only one who cared enough to keep following up until a decision was made. Demonstrating interest in a job can make all the difference to a hiring manager.

While these jobs were obtained due to little details, I have also had occasion to see applicants turned down for little, overlooked details as well. While working as an attorney, I once received a resume from an otherwise qualified applicant, but was told by a senior attorney that the applicant was not careful or detail-oriented enough to meet our firm’s exacting standards. This was because the applicant had not only addressed the cover letter to the wrong person within the firm, but had also gotten the middle initial wrong. The reasoning was that if a person failed to double-check details on an important career document, they could be equally careless with important documents in our office.

Another applicant submitted a crisp, professional resume and cover letter. Unfortunately, the applicant had scrawled on the bottom, “Hope to see you soon,” in atrocious handwriting. I believe the applicant hoped to add a personal touch, but it was a poor choice. Not only is such informality inappropriate when applying for a law firm job, but the applicant’s scrawl suggested that the extra note had been added in a rush with little thought. Again, the lack of care and thought did not bode well for that applicant’s ability to be as attentive to detail as the job duties would require.

While many things come into play in a job search, sometimes jobs are made or lost based on small details. By giving careful thought to every aspect of a job search, an applicant can avoid fatal blunders and increase her chances of landing the job she’s hoping for.



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