Have you ever refused job due to not liking interviewer?

[loadsoftwonk]

Had an interview today and was totally put off by the interviewer.

Have you ever gone against your gut by taking a job after not liking the person who would be your manager?

AIBU or should you always go with your gut. I didn't like the things she was spewing.

I’ve done it twice - turned down the jobs because of bad vibes. Wish I’d done it with my last job too. Was lulled into a false sense of security, because the other people on the panel were lovely; sadly my manager was a toxic megalomaniac.

I nearly did. My boss looked incredibly sceptical through the whole interview, but it was such a good opportunity I just thought I'd go for it.

He is the nicest person ever and was just worried about handing over the reigns of a new business to a complete stranger.

I took a job against my gut feeling and regretted it, twice 😬 I was younger, I wouldn’t do that again, if I had a bad feeling about an interviewer I would definitely not accept a job at the company

Not so much the manager, but I see an interview as a chance to see if I want to work there or not.

Haven’t actually turned a job down because of it but got bad vibes from an interviewer which were proven right! No facial or verbal response to ANYTHING I said during my interview. A smile? A nod, perhaps? Nope, nothing. It was one of the weirdest interviews I’ve had. She turned out to be a complete nightmare to work with, of course. I still wonder what bizarre rationale she had for being like that during an interview. You’re never going to get the best out of anyone while being so cold/unresponsive/robotic.

I’ve declined second interviews when I didn’t like the vibe or person interviewing me.

@MarryingMrDarcy Sounds like a weird form of intimidation. These power and control freaks are certainly odd bods!

I declined a second interview after the guy taking my first, asked what my husband and father did for a living 🙄

I have experienced this. I didn’t like the attitude of the interviewer for various reasons. Got the job and accepted as it was a good career move at the time. It was an internal role, but the hiring manager was new in post so figured I would give them a chance anyway. Regretted the decision immediately and started looking to leave within weeks. All of my assumptions and more came to fruit.
Fortunately for me, I have worked at the company for a number of years and so I was able to arrange a transfer to a parallel team and escape- retaining my exact role and terms in the process. I had to threaten to leave. I think if I had joined as a new recruit with a probation period that had a short notice period I would have actually walked away. Many new colleagues did. The department haemorrhaged staff until the person in question was eventually managed out. The process took nearly two years though.

It was without a doubt one of the most stressful points in my career by a margin.

A bad line manager can be crippling- the lesson I learnt is to always trust your gut!

Yes, more than once.

I turned down going any further in the interview process when I realised the CEO was a control freak who enjoyed making people squirm and was an all round dick head! I was disappointed as the line manager who initially interviewed me was great and we really clicked. I don’t know how he managed to work for such an arsehole, everyday.

When I called the recruiter afterwards to reject anything further from the company due to the obnoxious CEO, he just sighed and said ‘ah, you’re not the first person to say that! Do you want to think about it though?!’

No thanks!

I’ve not realised another manager was a grade A bastard before starting a new job. The smarmy CEO turned out to be a gaslighting SOAB. I put up with it for too many months before leaving.

It’s very hard to check out a manager before you work for them, but there are clues… sometimes they’re just very difficult to find.

Yes, I withdrew my application at reception on the way out.

Yes, and the vibe in the entire office.

The receptionist didn't smile and no-one in the open plan office looked happy, they were all heads down. I was sat in the reception area for about 10 mins, and there was no atmosphere, no-one was talking to anyone else.

The interviewer was young, but looked old and weary.

I know you go to work to "work", but they seemed to have had every last droplet of joy sucked out of their souls.

I went for a second interview. I arrived early and was directed to a seat near the reception desk but just out of sight. While I was waiting someone came out and tore a strip off the receptionist for some minor issue - was very aggressive and accusing. I was called into the interview to be met by said aggressive bloke. I waited for him to finish his (long winded, self important) introduction, explained I couldn’t see me working with him and left.

I had an interview earlier this year where I decided during the interview there was no way I could work with the person who would be my manager. I only finished the interview for the experience as I'd not applied for a job for a long time.

Worked out well though - they looked at my skill set and offered me a much better job with a different team!

I consider an interview to be a two way thing - it has to work for me as well as them.

Definitely true about interviews being a two way street.
I Used to work at this estate agent. Had five interviews (3 before being offered the post). Should have seen that as a red flag. As well as the predecessor being slagged off. Seven miserable months in that shit hole, before eventually being fired.

They did it because they found it uppity. And that he should have known his place.

He was wise enough not to have resigned from his employer at the time.

Yup! Took great pleasure in telling them not to consider me for the role.

Two spring to mind.

One was an internal candidate for a job that had also been advertised externally. He kept finding excuses to try to arrange meetings with me (had never had contact with him before) which I declined. He sent me emails which had a tone of him already being part of my team and having the job. Luckily his interview was dog shit.

Another one was a woman who had a common enough name with a common pronunciation, something like Sonia - pronounced Sonn - yah. I shook her hand, nice to meet you Sonn-yah. "No, it's Sohn - nee - yah" No cultural element. Just pissed me right off!!

Anyone who pronounces the letter H as "haitch". Sorry, but it is used often where I work and it's like nails down a blackboard to me so I do my best to avoid anyone who does it. At least three of those have failed interview. I know I am going to get slammed for this!!!

Funny the things you remember about people and that irritate you.

I took job against my gut. Manager was awful and they are still struggling yo recruit.
She just felt off at interview and I was right.

I wouldn’t do it, I got vibes from an interviewer once who was my manager in the job, put it down to the interview being over teams instead of face to face but should have trusted the vibes!

Yes. I was a student teacher nana the head of the school just gave me a funny vibe. He said the department weren't jelling together and I felt that they were looking for someone to fill a quick gap and that they would be in the middle of a feud.
I just left before the lesson obs. Glad I made that decision as I am happy with my career progression 25 years later.

My husband did and he was happy about it. Quite a high profile job and he knows the person that took it in the end and they are struggling

My very first job. I had two interviews with two separate practices. One didn’t go particularly well (I had to perform a task that was quite challenging and succeeded only with difficulty) but I liked the people. The other, I didn’t entirely dislike the interviewer, but there was something off about the whole thing, though I didn’t have enough experience back then to put my finger on what it was.

The second practice offered me a job before the first. Nowadays, I’d ring the first and tell them, but I didn’t have the confidence then that I have now. My dad also urged me to take the job I’d been offered, on the grounds that “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush”.

It was an appalling practice to work for. Another staff member left shortly, due to the negativity and one of the other junior staff was diagnosed with clinical depression a couple of months later.

Turned out the main boss was a picky bully. He did no on call and was critical all the time when anything went wrong, which it did as I was completely new in my profession and received no support as everyone was too busy. I lasted six months and left with even less confidence than I’d had when starting out.

Nowadays I am absolutely interviewing the interviewers to see if I want the job. Took me a while though.

Totally. On two separate occasions with the same person. On the second occasion (there were a few years in between) it was more "Oh, he's still here." He was the head of department so I would have been working with him.