Brad Delong details, and I mean in great detail, what O’neill or any future candidate for this position should do to establish their role and notes that with regard to O’neill:

O’Neill did none of the things that he needed to do in order to get Robert Rubin’s job. Why not is unclear. He did suffer from CEO disease–that is, after a decade of everyone who works for ALCOA telling him that he is a genius and that every one of his words is pure gold, he did believe it and could not readjust. He sent his deputy to ask if O’Neill could attend the 7:30 White House senior staff meeting, but apparently thought it beneath his dignity to ask himself (or to just show up).

Pretty good stuff.
NB: I note, though, that given the reality of the bush administration O’neill could have followed Brad’s guidelines to the T and it likely would not have made an iota of difference.