To think ignoring candidates after two interviews is fucking rude?

[Dinosforall]

Had two interviews a few weeks ago with a huge multinational, at their request, all fine, then complete radio silence. Not via a recruiter. I have chased politely for feedback (once via email and once via voice message) and nothing, not even a form email. I get that people are busy, I get that decisions take time. But AIBU to think even if you're short on time, or courtesy, you must realise it give a terrible impression of your company?

Yup. I know someone currently waiting for a response. Three weeks and counting. Disgrace really.

I have had this before and it drove me mental. Was in a small, independent opticians in my town.

There were three opticians who were all directors. Went for first interview with two of them. Never heard back for about two weeks, where they asked me to go back for second interview with the guy who hadnt been there. Then said they would be in touch after being so positive. Gave me the retirement date for the woman I'd be replacing etc and said it would be a week before that id start, to shadow her for her last week. It all seemed really hopeful.

Never heard back for two weeks. The woman was leaving in about eight weeks. So I emailed (they asked me to communicate like this, if required) so enquire if theyd made a decision, as I'd of needed to hand in notice to start the week before the woman left. Never heard back for almost three weeks. Saying she would be in touch once the third optician was back his hols and they could discuss. By this point, I pretty much had decided I couldnt work for them as their communication was so poor, also between themselves it seemed too. So decided I wouldnt chase any further. Anyway I eventually got an email five weeks later saying they went with someone else.

Since then, in the space of five years..I cant even tell you how many times I have seen that same position re-advertised. I'm guessing it isnt all the employees who keep leaving that are the problem, and likely them. So, I am glad I never got it.

It is rude but not unusual for unsuccessful candidates not to be contacted after interviews. You may still hear though especially if they decided on someone else who then backed out or their references didn't stack up.

I had this for a promotion in the same company, different team. It took for me to run into the interviewers in the lift a couple of days later and when I said, sorry if this isn't the right time, but will I hear from you about the outcome of the interviews and the reply was, "well you clearly haven't got it or we would have told you by now" and I heaved a bit of a sigh of relief at that point. The person appointed left within 12 weeks and they ended up binning the role, so a lucky escape.

I know some places have divided their teams so that half of them work in office one week whilst the rest work from home and vice versa due to the virus outbreak. Might be the same situation where you applied to and everything might be just lost in chaos atm. Keep trying.

Op

I have worked in recruitment for 20 years and agree this is unacceptable. You should absolutely contact the person who interviewed you on Linked in and ask them in a diplomatic way what the situation is. Hopefully that person will feel mortified and reply . They should do. I have to send these types of emails / linked in messages all the time. PM me if you'd like me to word it for you..

I applied for an amazing job I really wanted and was well paid. I went for a pre interview/get to know you thing, the interviewer told us we'd get a call later that day if we were invited back for an all day(!) Interview the next day where you would be paired with a supervisor and basically work for a day. I got a call that I was invited back and he stressed that after the interview day we would come back to the office and have a third interview with the manager with feedback from your team leader and we would find out right then if we got the job as they were not employers who would keep people waiting .

The next day I show up at 8 in the morning as agreed for the five hour interview and find myself sitting in the waiting room for a whole hour while people showed up as late as 8:50 and the receptionist wasn't bothered at all.. we got called up after an hour and congratulated and put into a pair with designated team leader. We ended up getting a train to another bloody city and I built up a great rapport with my team leader, were both interested in the same things and had eerily similar lives, we clicked instantly. We all had activities/tasks we had to do during the day and I put so much effort it and really impressed her.

Unfortunately I was told three times prior to this that the interview would be 8am-1pm. I even clarified TWICE that this was the case as I started my shift at 3pm. I was assured that we would be back in my home city by 1pm. It was 12:30 and we were nowhere near done in the interview day due to the very late start and no organisation with trains so didn't actually get there till nearly 11. I still had my third interview to go and all the teams leaders kept disappearing because they had to do their actual job while there too! I had to gently remind her that I was told it finished at one. She was mortified and apologised profusely, said she was delighted with me and would be sending me back now to the manager who was would be waiting for me and she would pass her good feedback on to him. I was obviously feeling quite optimistic at this point.

I got back to the office, sit down for half a bloody hour in the same waiting room I was in earlier with the same receptionist. She calls me over and says the manager is stuck on a conference call and won't be free for an hour(?!) She told me that she knows I have to go to work so I should go and he will ring me later on.

I kept that phone with me on loud ALL evening, I did not receive a call. I then sent an email to them asking for my feedback as I was told I was going to be called ect and if on this occasion I haven't got the job could I please get some feedback on why. I had an email back saying they'd tried to call me twice that morning (email was sent by them at 7am..) and to update my phone number so they could call me. I replied saying it was the very same number they called me on to invite me to the second interview and also gave them my partner's number just incase they genuinely couldn't call me. Cue nuclear silence!!!!

I was absolutely gutted as apart from a few niggles I was excited to do that job and felt like I had missed out because I had to work and would have got part of it covered if I had known it was going to be late. It's awful that employers can leave people hanging like that but at the end of the day Im glad I didn't end up working for people who would do that 🤷

@FurrySlipperBoots I feel your pain, it's soul destroying. Good luck

I think it's really poor practice. In my teaching days I interviewed at a school in the city I was moving to. They phoned me in the afternoon to tell me they still hadn't managed to choose between me and the other finalised candidate, but they would ring me in the morning to let me know the decision. They didn't ring. I tried in the afternoon, no answer. It took more than a week for me to be able to speak to anyone about the job. By then I'd obviously worked out that I hadn't got it, I just wanted some feedback. All the person on the phone said, "Oh yeah, that. Yeah, we gave that to the other person". Great feedback, thanks

In the end, it all worked out as I found a school that was a) much closer to my new house b) all-round far better school So this may be a blessing in disguise, OP!

Really rude. I interviewed 3 weeks back for a role and received no further response from them. It can be really demoralising and have a negative impact on confidence. But yes, I remind myself, if they're like that generally, I imagine they're a hell to work with day to day.

It’s pretty par for the course where I am (western Canada). I spent a year applying like mad for government jobs, sometimes interviews, never a “thanks but no thanks” email. I figured I was putting in 8-10 hours per application & eventually gave up. And got the vibe from friends that I should be trying harder. It is fairly common, but that doesn’t make it feel good. I gave up on that sector and got snapped up elsewhere.

It’s rude, but appears to be accepted practice these days. I worked in recruitment and HR for many years and it appears that is just how it’s done now.

It’s infuriating as an applicant (I’ve been there) and it’s infuriating as the hiring company (we hire consultants to do the grunt work for us, which includes screening and communication, which includes communication to unsuccessful candidates!)

As a hirer I often have to keep a couple of really good candidates in the dark, whilst i wait for the top candidate to decide whether or not to take an offer. I’d rather piss off numbers 3/4 on the list than pressurise number 1 on the list if they have issues that prevent them making an instant decision. And it is easier to be quiet than to say to the two others that ‘you are Second/third in the list so do you mind waiting a bit longer?’ - that doesn’t help our candidates in terms of their confidence, and wouldn’t be a great place to start a long term Working relationship.
If numbers 3/4 start getting uppity and pressurising our HR for a decision, they will get instantly rejected. Not because they weren’t Initially thought to be great for the job, but because when they start putting pressure on HR (who are only trying to do the best by everybody), it doesn’t bode well for their general attitude.
Our key relationship manager fends off more than 200 calls a week from people who want to come to interview for us, that is the scale of demand for roles. We now hold regular ‘call-ins’ for people who want to join us to help explain the skill sets we are specifically looking for and those skill sets that no longer fit, so that we help filter applications/interviews down to those that are truly a good fit. And still we have maybe 6/8 people suitable for each role (after the interview process is completed). Keeping 2 of them ‘on the hook (in the dark, from their point of view) is generally a good thing for them, not a bad thing, and them
Punishing our HR dept for this isn’t a good idea.
Whilst I appreciate this is solely the position for the recruiters point of view, and people might think it rude, it is the reality of the job market at the moment, and I’m not sure other approaches would be better.

Some places tell you in advance that unsuccessful candidates will not be contacted. I think it’s bad manners myself, but such is the culture these days, especially in bulk recruiting scenarios such as low skilled work, retail, fast food chains, anything with a part time, variable or zero hours contract.

I agree with Grandmi, it’s very bad form.

I agree it probably means you are second choice and they are waiting to see if the first choice candidate accepts the role. Which is better than being rejected outright.

@TheBlessedCheesemaker so it's ' uppity' to expect a response after a few weeks of radio silence? You are not trying to do the best by everyone at all. You're trying to have your cake and eat it and do the best for your company.

Which is the job of HR , but at least don't pretend it isn't...

A better approach would be a simple piece of courtesy. How does the negotiation for the number one candidate prevent you fr replying to other candidates when they email? You could simply say that the hiring team are still considering , thanks for your patience , we'll be in touch as soon as we know more thanks blah blah.

I've been looking for a job since Xmas. Unemployed.
Interview 1, interview at 9. I am there at 8.50. Interviewer, regional manager gets there at 9.30. Problem with the traffic? No, it always takes that long. Interview 2 gets there at 10.....
Full interview. Not a sausage heard since.
Job 2, 3 full interviews, last with directors. Then told they need to interview internally.
Job 3. One interview, offer within the hour. I start Monday.

I think some companies do not want to provide feedback in case what they say is somehow used against them. It is very rude and constructive feedback can be helpful.

I’ve had this before after a 2nd interview. It’s so incredibly rude and a sign you absolutely don’t want to work for them.

I had the exact same thing last month. At the end of the second interview the interviewer said lots of positive things about my experience and that my next round will be with so and so (one of the founders). So I assumed it as a good sign. But never heard back from the actual HR guy. Sent two chaser emails but no reply whatsoever.

@TheBlessedCheesemaker I'm sorry but I don't understand that.. why is it uppity to ask for a response? Fair enough if they're harassing your HR department with 20 calls a day and being abusive but if they've been kept waiting with no reply for a while then it's surely expected the candidates would get a little frustrated and want an answer?

These people have lives, they need to know what is going on so they can organise their current job/apply for other jobs/feed their bloody children. It may be easier for you not to tell them anything while waiting for your first choice to make up their mind but it certainly isn't easier for them and is very rude. I don't really get why you can't just put the offer on the table for the top applicant and say 'we need to know by such and such a date' and then tell the others they will know by the same date?

I had 3 interviews with one (huge, financial institution) place and I had to email to see what was going on. These companies not give a shit about people.

Then they had the audacity to ask me to apply for upcoming future opportunities!

I once went through 7, yes 7, interviews, plus psychometric testing for a company that head hunted me - that included 2 interviews with the CEO. This was 2 yrs ago, I'm still waiting to hear from them! People are so, so rude.

I'm still waiting to here back from Ofgem after a second interview that costs me £90 in train tickets back in 2013. I'm beginning to think maybe I didn't get it.