Is it bad etiquette to ask a job to reconsider your application?

I found a job last night that is perfect for me. Upon reading the job description and requirements I knew that I definitely fit all of the ones listed. I applied, put a lot of time into my cover letter because it was at a company I was extremely passionate about.

Then I woke up today to the hiring manager emailing me saying I did not qualify for the job. Here are the specifics of what they said:

“I regret to inform you that, in spite of your impressive CV and qualifications, your profile does not fully match the requirements for the vacant position.

We have therefore decided against shortlisting you.”

I have responded asking for the specifics on how my application fell short (as I am sure it didn’t - it’s an intern position for something I have a degree in too) and I asked them (very professionally and politely) to reconsider my application before they decide I don’t fit the role.

Was this the right thing to do? I’m having a lot of anxiety after sending it so I just need to know if it was the right thing to do.

Do it

Literally no harm done and it'll help you next time

Reply 3

Emma:-)

Entertainment Forum Helper

Original post by Moonlight rain

Literally no harm done and it'll help you next time

I agree

Reply 4

Admit-One

Universities Forum Helper

Asking for feedback is absolutely fine.

I highly doubt that they will reconsider your app, but there is no harm in asking and there's no point worrying about it because it's already done.

Reply 5

anosmianAcrimony

Well, heck - what more can they do to you, besides not give you the job? You've got nothing to lose here.

Reply 6

ej2345

Update: employer replied and said they couldn’t reconsider and wouldn’t give me feedback. A month later and I’m not too bothered but still was a bit of a weird reply. Hmm!

Reply 7

threeportdrift

Careers Forum Helper

Original post by ej2345

Update: employer replied and said they couldn’t reconsider and wouldn’t give me feedback. A month later and I’m not too bothered but still was a bit of a weird reply. Hmm!

They are both perfectly standard and sensible replies. Unless you added further information to your request to review, then all you were doing in asking them to reconsider your application was inferring that you knew better than them what they wanted. You might well have a relevant degree and experience, but other people had more experience.

From their first response you should have taken the feedback - 'I'm applying for the right sort of thing, but I wasn't a medalist in this candidate pool'. Think about it, it's a competition, people come 4th in the Olympics - they don't ask to rerun the race so they can try again to get a medal, on that day and time in that race, they weren't in the top 3. It doesn't mean they shouldn't be racing or the race should be rerun. It just means they need to train better.

Employers can rarely give feedback for entry level and junior roles for two reasons. Firstly the size of the applicant pools - there may have been hundreds and they don't have the time to respond to every one. Second, when you get a candidate pool where there are many decent applicants that are near misses for the next stage, it's hard to find anything constructive to say. You can't reveal what the winning candidates had, because it might make them identifiable, it might be an unusual combination, it might be style, and you just can't discuss other people's attributes to 3rd parties.There were just a few people that were 'higher, faster, stronger' than you.