Ask HN: 50 job applications, 15 interviews, 7 onsites, and no offer – what next?
The most common reason I&#x27;ve turned down very qualified candidates is that they didn&#x27;t appear to want the job very badly, relative to other candidates, and didn&#x27;t seem willing to extend much effort to appear interested in the job they were applying for.<p>Some very experienced applicants seem to assume their experience weighs so heavily that their chances of getting the job are better than anyone else&#x27;s, and that there&#x27;s nothing else they can do to get the job aside from fill out the form and show up for the interview.<p>I&#x27;ve had very experienced candidates come to an interview and complain about their current jobs, and complain about how stupid all the young inexperienced kids around them are. I love hiring experienced people, but that is a total turn-off, and an indicator that this person will not try to work with others, will not fit in, and generally will not perform well.<p>You mentioned that you hate your current job. So my question is whether you&#x27;re knowingly or unknowingly communicating that during your interviews. Even if you&#x27;re not saying it out loud, one&#x27;s demeanor, body language, tone, excitement level, etc. can all expose someone who&#x27;s unhappy doing what they&#x27;re doing, and presenting yourself as unhappy being a PM is - in my experience - the worst thing you can do.<p>Some other ways experience can work against you include that your salary is at the high end so employers feel they can get equally good work for less money, and that your experience has hardened you in the operating procedures of other companies. Employers want to feel that you&#x27;re open to adapting, willing to learn, and will go out of your way to shed any old dogma you have that doesn&#x27;t fit, and adopt new dogma that benefits the new company. A PM job also involves a lot of rallying people, so you have to come off as a person who&#x27;s able to tell a good story and convince others to do what you need and follow your lead.<p>Good luck to you, and please keep in mind that nobody here knows what&#x27;s wrong. It could be you or could be racial or could be a bubble job market in the area you&#x27;re applying... all of these things are absolute speculation. Your question doesn&#x27;t have enough information for anyone to know.