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AIBU?

To think this was really rude of my Manager

30 replies

user1498221998 · 23/06/2017 14:44

So today myself and another Manager attended a Manager's meeting. There was a young lady there that interviewed with us in September. She had really good experience and seemed a lovely lady but she fell apart in the interview. Really nervous and didn't answer the questions well. In fairness we didn't try our hardest to help her in anyway and we just brought the interview to a swift end after realising she wasn't of the standard required. When we called to reject her we explained that we didn't feel she had proven her competence and we hadn't seen evidence that she could complete the job. We then gave the job to a candidate who excelled in interview.

At the meeting the young lady was there. Our Manager congratulated her on her 'new job' and asked her to explain how she got this new position. She explained that she interviewed with us and was unsuccessful but the person chosen failed their probation so she was offered the chance to re apply and she interviewed the best on the day and was offered the role. She explained that she was delighted to be offered the position.

Our Manager then said 'the job went to the right person in the end' and ' I bet you're as smug as a bug today aren't you'. The young lady then said 'Not going to lie I am' and laughed.

The Manager than told her to 'Enjoy every minute' and she hopes 'two people in this room are eating humble pie this morning'.

She did rubbish in the interview. How is that our faul? AIBU to think this whole exchange was rather rude?

OP posts:
Bluntness100 · 23/06/2017 14:50

That's very unprofessional of your manager. Is there more of a back story here? Does she think you rejected her for another reason? And why was she interviewed again without your knowledge and given the job without your knowledge? Does the manager think you messed up the interviews?

user1498221998 · 23/06/2017 14:54

She thinks we failed to see her potential/ruled her out too early/were too taken in by the slick interview of the other candidates.

She believes we appointed based on merit and competence at interview and nothing else but just felt she was ruled out too early.

The job isn't in our department so normal for it to be re-interviewed by someone else.

OP posts:
QuiteLikely5 · 23/06/2017 14:55

It seems like something said in jest so I wouldn't take it seriously

You said you didn't help her much through the interview and obviously picked an inferior candidate so that exposes holes in your companies hiring technique

HildaOg · 23/06/2017 14:59

You didn't pick the best candidate though and that was proven by the fact that your chosen candidate failed. The manager was only joking with the young woman, nothing offensive or rude.

ScarlettFreestone · 23/06/2017 15:01

I'd be taking the manager aside for a chat. Totally unprofessional.

Presumably it was a competency based interview and you carried it out as per your company's standards?

Clearly given a second chance, she had time to work on her interview technique/gain some confidence.

scottishdiem · 23/06/2017 15:17

Oh goodness you are a bit touchy. I would have taken that in jest to be honest.

OlennasWimple · 23/06/2017 15:19

Sounds unprofessional all round, to be honest. It's part of your role as an interviewer to try to draw the best out of the candidate, not write them off and send them out early

kalinkafoxtrot45 · 23/06/2017 15:21

Totally unprofessional of the manager. If there are faults in the interview and selection process, that should certainly be addressed, but that manager was snide and out of line.

Hassled · 23/06/2017 15:25

That sounds awkward as hell and I agree the manager should never have undermined you like that. A private word along the lines of "you made the wrong choice back in September, he didn't work out and now we've brought Katy back in" would have been fine - but not in front of her. I think that's really unprofessional.

Cheby · 23/06/2017 15:29

Why didn't you try to help her in the interview? If I've got a nervous candidate, I try to put them at ease and give them a fair shot.

Somerford · 23/06/2017 15:45

I wouldn't be happy with that, OP. You say yourself that you didn't really try to help her during the interview and perhaps you should have, but when all is said and done you can only go by what's in front of you on the day and she didn't present well enough.

If your manager wasn't at the interview, she didn't see what you saw and has very little idea of how poorly the candidate interviewed (apart from your feedback) so I don't think she should be forming opinions on your decision now with the benefit of hindsight. She certainly shouldn't be belittling you in front of a new colleague and making a big issue of the fact that you rejected her application which I'm sure was quite awkward for you already.

How you handle it depends on your relationship with your manager so I can't offer any advice on that but I think you have every right to feel that she dealt with the situation badly.

DoloresTheRunawayTrain · 23/06/2017 15:57

Sounds like the manager has although jokily and slightly unprofessionally highlighted a major flaw in your companies interview and selection process (maybe with your companies general attitude towards employees also). Perhaps you should take that on board and be more professional yourself in future rather let people sink like that. Honestly the behaviour of interviewers is as much under scrutiny as interviewees in this setting. Your behaviour to me says you and your company would be perfectly happy to let an employee with health problems or a family issue sink and be cut loose as dead weight than to help them over the hump and see them bounce back as a more competent and loyal employee. It says to me you look to find fault and lay blame solely at your employees feet rather than be willing to ask yourself what you or your company could change to prevent a re-occurrence of a problem. It says to me you are dinosaurs in your field and slow to change and other companies who are more flexible will out perform you and your company will not be as successful as it should. It also says to me you are nightmares to work for. Have a high turnover of staff by any chance? Been using the same business models and management styles for years?
See, it's not only a potential employer who may gather an erroneous impression of a person or business based on one aspect of them.

putdownyourphone · 23/06/2017 15:59

Meh - it sounds like she was making the new woman feel comfortable by making a joke about you, the new woman probably felt quite awkward that you had rejected her and embarrassed about her interview, so the manager was trying to make her feel like it wasn't her fault. I wouldn't take it personally.

GahBuggerit · 23/06/2017 16:05

Meh, managers do get it wrong when recruiting sometimes op which can result in a nice slice of humble pie.

Manager probably broke the ice a bit though. I'd feel a bit cringe if confronted with an employee id previously rejected so would probably be grateful of a bit of banter about it.

GahBuggerit · 23/06/2017 16:07

And "young lady" is a bit.....off no?

YoureNotASausage · 23/06/2017 16:07

I don't really see the problem! She's new and it was a good way of showing that the interviewers (i.e. Manager and you) had no hard feelings about being overridden and also that you were happy to have her on the team. I think it was a kindness he did and you should be confident enough to see it as that.

Groupie123 · 23/06/2017 16:13

To be honest I'd be more worried that someone somewhere over-rode your rejection to ask the lady to interview again. Was she a referral from another employee? Why did your boss not take your rejection into account when the lady applied again?

Something tells me your opinions aren't trusted. At my company, someone who utterly failed the interview isn't asked to interview again for the same team. Are you sure she doesn't have a relationship with the manager or their manager - sounds like a friends/family hire to me.

GahBuggerit · 23/06/2017 16:25

Different managers have different requirements. It's really not unusual, that's why often candidates who are rejected are welcomed to apply for other roles in the same company.

VintagePerfumista · 23/06/2017 16:28

So one failed probation and now you've got the one who was crap?

Perhaps the whole lot of you need a refresher course.

Botanicbaby · 24/06/2017 01:24

Sounds like your interviewing skills are terrible and that the company is pretty rubbish too. The so-called management meeting was cringe-worthy and wholly unprofessional. As is referring to someone as a 'young lady'.

Part of the skill in interviewing is the ability to see beyond the nerves of a candidate but sounds like she was judged on this.

SuperLoveFuzz · 24/06/2017 02:33

I interviewed for a job that was I was perfect for but my nerves let me down in the CBI and I gave short, rushed answers. The interviewer didn't probe or 'help' me in any way as I would have expected given that everyone knows how nerve wracking interviews can be. I didn't get the job despite excelling in the other part of the interview process.
I was invited back 6 months later, prepped massively and still didn't give the best interview. Luckily though, the job doesn't involve performing at an interview! I think this is something that is overlooked far too often.
I recently read a study that showed that employing people based solely on their cv and references is more effective than interviewing in terms of staff performance and turnover.
I have to admit I was as 'smug as a bug' when I won 'best newcomer' at the conference 6 months after starting. The look on the faces of the 2 people who didn't give me a chance after the first interview was priceless.

lalalalyra · 24/06/2017 03:55

Your manager will look a right wally if this one fails get probation as well

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Supermagicsmile · 24/06/2017 05:24

You did nothing wrong. Why did the other one fail?

NoArmaniNoPunani · 24/06/2017 05:31

What's she been doing since September? That's a long time to wait for a job.

Mummyoflittledragon · 24/06/2017 05:39

I've failed interviews through nerves. And I possibly was the best candidate on paper, who knows. What I do know is not giving someone a chance and letting them fall over isn't good interview technique. If you want to act like that, make it your mission to be one of the interviewers on The Apprentice. That way, at least you'll have a captive audience.

I think you're being way too touchy about this. Learn from your experiences. You're so convinced your boss is in the wrong and you're in the right that you may be missing a whole bunch of things.

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