AIBU to think this is pretty poor form (job interview related)

Did they declare that they'd used AI for their form etc? Because if not, you might have a research integrity issue down the line if they aren't transparent about their use of AI...

I’ve claimed travel costs back for an interview before. I didn’t get the job. It was a bit of a faff but worth it as I was skint at the time.

Oh god I had this same thing once a few years back now so not even in the current climate. I was applying for a junior lecturer role and the professor interviewing me was an utter pig. He literally looked me up and down as I walked in, kept glancing at the clock, sighing, audibly tutted as I answered a question, would butt in constantly, pulled a few weird faces as I was speaking.

He was the rudest person I’ve ever come across in my academic career thus far. To be honest though, it makes you happy you didn’t get the role because like hell you’d want to work with them!

A colleague and I were hiring a research assistant a few weeks back and did it on teams, we were just looking for a PGR student to help us. I didn’t care at all if they’d used AI in their application, nor their interview. We sent the questions in advance so they could prepare. I gave the role to the candidate who was the most personable! That’s what mattered to me most of all, can I get on well with them and do I think they’d work hard? Yes and so far so good.

People place way too much emphasis on AI being evil but you have to consider most candidates have applied for hundreds of jobs, why should they individually personalise CVs and cover letters themselves when a bot can do it for them?

The job market at the moment is SAVAGE!

I work in finance and it's so difficult. I had an online interview for Revolute the other day and the interviewer yawned during the meeting and didn't even apolgise.

I got a rejection but feedback to HR how unprofessional the interviewer was.

Been going on longer than that. Had exactly this scenario for a big job at FCA. 4 or 5 years ago. Big piece of work to be submitted, never discussed at i/v, then ghosted for outcome. I gave very detailed feedback as I was appalled.

Well of course it's less good on the "gice an example.of...". But if you have technical questions which we do then it is fairly easy to use it.c
It is kind of obvious but it's not easy to mark them down if they answer the question so simpler to bring them to the office

If I didn't get the job, I'd be writing and sending them my travel receipts as it may make them reconsider their recruitment practices. Remind them of the Cost of Living Crisis and how frivolous it is for them to presume that everyone has £80 to blow on just attending an interview, especially when so many people will be unsuccessful. Copy in the CEO. Also mention sustainability (environmental protection, pollution, etc).

Next time ask if they cover travel expenses when agreeing to the interview OP

I had a remote interview for a professional job almost 3 years ago now, needed post grad qualifications and experience for it, had to prepare and deliver a presentation, was asked about start dates etc and I was doing the exact same role for another business. Despite thinking it had gone well (and I never ever think that) and them discussing how they’d be able to get me in quicker than notice period, I was totally ghosted following it. I contacted the interviewer and HR (it’s a big organisation) a number of times and absolutely zero response. Every time I see another role advertised my husband tells me to contact them and ask about the outcome since technically I’ve still not been rejected! Really frustrating people think it’s okay for you to give up your time and energy into preparing for something (and in your case money) and not have the decency to tell you the outcome. I hope you hear soon!

It depends on the job and the interviewers needs. Having interviewed a lot, I'd always regard in person interviews as being more effective.

I find this baffling as employers use AI to screen CVs in the first place. But any how, the last teams interview I had I had my CV open with notes on it and my Linkedin profile on my other monitor. I know them both really, i can't imagine how I would just stop and read chatgpt without looking obvious in an interview or what chatgpt could actually answer given my competencies are either in my notes or my head.

As someone who was offered a job yesterday after being made redundant 6 weeks ago I can only agree that its a really poor experience to leave people hanging on while you fire through your preferred candidates and then expect the 3rd/4th person to still be engaged in the job application. Most candidates will keep there options open and carrying on applying for other jobs.

The other thing I am finding baffling at the moment is the amount of senior managers who can't interview and give poor interviews that it's either not a great experience as a candidate or it puts you off the whole company. If you have to go to your 4th option because none of the other candidates want the job there is either something wrong with the way the interview was conducted or something wrong with the job description or perhaps even the way candidates were short listed.

Yes by "where everyone lives/ has access to" I meant the candidates not just OP, as it's not local to OP at 3 hours away.

When I've put on events for people all over then London or Birmingham is usually where it ends up due to travel connections.

OP I would question the wisdom of a company that requires candidate to travel to a random city without offering to reimburse expenses and then fails to get back to candidates within a reasonable amount of time.

Potential red flags and signs that the organisation won't be great to work for.

Condescending and superior, much?

It’s not respectful or polite no. Even if it is taking a while they could at least let you know that. What is becoming bad as well these days is the demands for interview - big pieces of work which often add up to significant pieces of consultation that can take days of your time. Then not hearing back - or asking for the work and then choosing an internal candidate - so they get a piece of free consultation - is happening a lot more now IMO. I have been interviewing for about 4 months now and it’s a trend.

I assume it's a very junior role that you're in for as for senior roles you'd expect face to face, to travel and for the selection panel to take their time.

love that this person didn't even read or understand the OP, who quite clearly said that she'd traveled, interviewed face-to-face and the selection panel was taking their time....

Lol “very junior”, nice and condescending. I will tell you one I would expect and that’s reimbursement of travel expenses if the interview was in person. Very poor form not to offer that.

We do in-person interviews, because the roles are office-based, no WFH, so if people aren't prepared to travel to interview, then they won't want the job anyway. We have had interviewees over 3 weeks, but I made it clear to candidates this was the case. We also have a policy that all interviewees must have a response and feedback. Internal candidates get feedback even if we don't interview them, which a couple of times has been a challenge to my diplomacy skills.

We knew at the end of the interview whether someone was likely to be offered or not, though we still had to go through the rest of the interviews in case there was an even stronger candidate in the potential yeses. But even once our decision was made, others had to sign off on the decision, including HR, and if a key person is on leave, that can delay things. It can be really annoying from the hiring side when we've made the decision and it then doesn't happen as quickly as we'd like, either.

The most likely reason is that the preferred candidate has asked for a day to think about it. You can’t really send an email saying ‘hey, the person we really want is thinking about it, but if they sadly turn us down we will be forced to consider one of you lot. We’ll be in touch when the best candidate has decided. Have a nice day!’

Or none of the candidates are outstanding and the panel is taking an extra day to sleep on it. You can’t really send an email saying that either.

Yes i agree.
And I think this firm has treated you very poorly @Itsmeanttobesummer, although sadly with the job market in such a bad place, this seems to be the norm now.

Bloody hell, I work in the public sector and paying for travel expenses for interviews was being phased out thirty years ago! Surprised academia still pays this considering they constantly complain about having no money.

Good point.

They may genuinely have not made a decision yet but they have shown you how little they consider employees circumstances by not even sending you a message saying "due to X we have yet to make a decision, we will get back to you by Y". They don't even have to give a genuine reason for the delay (you wouldn't know if it was true), but acknowledging it would show they care about the effort and expense you went to. I wouldn't have a good feeling about the employer and would be increasingly reluctant to accept the job or apply again in future the more they delay.