If you’re a hiring manger/ recruiter please help

[dogsandbudgey]

My partner has applied for a job. It’s a senior position. He’s coming from another senior
position but in a larger more established firm. He absolutely hates the job and wants out. New job would be fabulous in terms of everything he would like and just the fresh start etc. he has a lot of really really desirable skills and knowledge in a fairly niche sector. However stage 3 of interview the hiring manager basically challenged why he would want to leave his current role given the high position.
partner now thinks that they have ruled him out now incase it’s just to get a counter offer.

what’s your thoughts? If you had a really high calibre candidate that met all and more of the criteria and had lots of experience chat

What did your partner say in answer to the challenge?

Something along the lines of wanting new opportunities and not getting to make decisions. It threw him off but he said i appreciate you don’t know me but im not hear to waste anyone’s time.
He genuinely really would love the new job.

I suspect they are genuinely curious why he would want to leave what sounds like a good position. He needs to imply, professionally, that there is something not right in the current place's culture and he is looking for somewhere more aligned to his values.

Why does he see it as a challenge instead of a very reasonable question? Challenge is a strong word for this:

standard question on any interview “why are you looking to change companies/roles”

id be looking for length of tenure and the answer

if its been five years and they’re looking “new challenges, new Experience” etc is very typical

if it’s been six months id have reservations

My DH had this scenario. The hiring manager just wants to understand the circumstances. Hopefully your partner was expecting the question and was prepared for it. But if not, hopefully he gave a constructive answer without criticising his current firm/manager. If not, then hopefully he'll be more prepared next time.

Sounds like a reasonable question.

Hopefully he’s reading too much into it. He’s just worried that they think he’s too experienced and will think he’s wasting time. Personally I didn’t see it as an alarming question myself but he said it was the way it was asked

One answer, albeit untrue, is "I have the opportunity for a severance package, and the prospect of a fresh start excites me. Your company is particularly attractive because ..."

I’m a hiring manager. I’d want to know why they’re leaving. What are the issues? Is there any chance they may turn this job down if hired and stay where they are? Are there any issues with the employee (red flags). Having experienced lots of time wasters, I’d definitely be asking.

@strorberrysyes he was able to give a constructive answer and whilst he’s desperate to leave, he was very aware not to be critical of his current company.
did your partner get the job ?

@IwanttoWFH thanks for answering. So it’s a fairly normal question? I thought it was a fair enough question too. He is maybe being paranoid. If a candidate genuinely was a good fit would you interview them for the final stage even if you thought they might not actually leave? The final
stage is in front of a panel and he should hear today if he’s got through

If he's senior why on earth would the question throw him? I'm not senior and I'd definitely have been expecting it or something like it

I know, I didn’t think it was alarming but he said it was they way it was asked ( whatever that means)

@dogsandbudgey Mine did, yes. In his case he loved his previous job until he got a new manager who didn't seem to like him much and that made him unhappy. He took a voluntary severance package. He got lucky though as someone who he worked closely with knew the hiring manager for the new job and put in a good word. That probably helped to allay any fears. He's very much the most experienced person on the team so will probably be promoted when his new boss retires - the new boss possibly recognised that and saw it as a positive, whereas some might see it as a challenge.

It’s a very normal question, especially if it seems to be a sideways move.

i would follow up dropping the recruiter a line saying how much you enjoyed the meeting, what you admire about the company. That you liked them personally and are very serious about the opportunity as they are just what he’s looking for in terms of culture/leadership/autonomy etc

If the new company is a competitor they might have been fishing for any hints of issues with the old company - restructure, delayed product launch, that kind of thing. It's a normal question

With questions like that you always need to make your reason for moving something to do with the new company as well as your own development- products, processes etc.

I would as I’d be hedging my bets. I’d interview a few people and then pick the best person/best fit! Did he get the job?

Did he make it to the final stage?