awful interview, WIBU to have ended it early?

[cigarsmokingwoman]

I had an interview this week for a fixed‑term maternity cover role in a field I’ve worked in for years. On paper, it looked perfect — but it turned into a complete nightmare.
The current postholder is full‑time, but they want to replace her with someone part time, on a short contract, no team, and still covering the same massive list of responsibilities. Straight away, it felt like they were expecting one person to do the work of several. Its not a senior role, but sounded it as they kept refering to "supporting our staff of over 2000".
Beforehand, I’d asked for some reasonable adjustments, as I have several disabilities, which they agreed to — but when the interview started, they hadn’t done them. I had to ask twice, which was awkward and made me feel like I was being a nuisance. They did send the questions in advance, again as an adjustment, but then on the day they started asking completely different ones, putting me on the spot and making it much harder to answer properly.
One of the panel was so patronising. They asked me to explain really basic concepts that I’d expect anyone in the field to already know. When I started talking about some of my biggest achievements, they cut across me and actually said they didn’t want to hear about the awards I'd won! The question was literally about qualifications, experience and achievements related to the role.
The whole thing felt off. The tone was wrong, the expectations were ridiculous, and there was no sign of respect for my experience or the effort I’d put into preparing. Eventually, I just said I was ending the interview because it was a waste of both our time. I left the Teams call feeling small, upset, and wondering why I’d ever applied.
I’ve done and sat on many interview panels, but I’ve never had such a bad experience.I've never exited an interview before either and I'm still shaken by it. AIBU to think that whatever the role is, the least you should expect is a bit of professionalism and basic respect?

Oh yay another thread where posters prove how ableist they are

They showed you who they are, and they’re not someone you want to work for. If they can’t stick to reasonable adjustments in an interview then it is unlikely they’ll be a supportive workplace - no matter how highly they rate themselves on that score. Whilst the experience was awful, the silver lining is that you’ve identified early on that this is not the job for you.

I suspect you assessed each other reasonably well during this interview, and the result left both sides relieved to end the process. Some positions are not suitable even with appropriate qualifications.

Better luck next time.

I am horrified at the number of people claiming to speak from the position of a recruiter who do not have adequate knowledge around reasonable adjustments.

OP, it won’t make you feel better but echo the others saying you should feel empowered. This is not an employer you would want to be working for and in time, when you find the right role, you will look back and be glad you exited with dignity.

Yes I agree. People have expressed thoughts and asked questions but I haven't seen any negativity towards you OP. You've posed the question "was I wrong" but clearly you don't think for one second that you were so your AIBU seems a bit redundant tbh. And no one has said you were being unreasonable - some have just asked questions. We are allowed to do that, it's how you learn stuff.

It absolutely does not prevent you getting a true picture of the candidate.

If anything, the opposite.

It all comes down to what you want from the question- do you want someone who can instantly relay their past experience in a concise form after being asked about it on the spot? ( a niche skill with little wider utility) Or do you want someone who can provide a clear, concise example that shows what they can do?

If you actually want to hear about a person's relevant experience, surely it makes sense to give them time to prepare an answer?

I would say that it shouldn't mean no additional questions. Interview.panels should be able to ask follow up questions. These can help the candidate if they've maybe not explained something well or omitted a relevant piece of info.

But they shouldn't ask completely different questions

Did you post this week about asking for the questions? Sorry the interview didn’t go well however it sounds like you dodged a bullet in terms of the workload though.

I can understand you not wanting this role. It does sound like a nightmare if they're expecting a partimer to do a full time workload.

But in terms of you mentioning your awards , to be fair they can be subjective. It probably is best to say something objective that you've achieved.

And you say you were patronised with basic questions- this may simply indicate that they've taken on incompetent ppl in the past who can't do the basics despite what they claim on an application form. Sometimes these obvious things need to be tested.

I sympathise and you were entirely right to end it. They didn’t make the adjustments they’d agreed to, at least one interviewer was rude and unprofessional and the job sounds a nightmare.

Well done 👏 for standing up for yourself, great decision as they really do not deserve you.”

It is really easy to see how some employers walk into tribunal claims. Whilst it may seem ridiculous to provide interview questions in advance, the law requires things like this if it’s a reasonable adjustment because of a disability. Interestingly we’ve had to do this on a number of occasions recently and those individuals still haven’t scored as highly in the interview as others. They haven’t “cheated”.
If you’re thinking up questions in the room and not using a list of consistent questions and scoring for every candidate, you’re leaving yourself and your company wide open to a claim when somebody says they haven’t got a job because of x protected characteristic. Society is getting more and more litigious.

This. I really do hope that some of the people posting on here are not the recruiters they claim to be.

Making reasonable adjustments for disability is standard good practice. And no it is not appropriate to decide 'on the hoof' what questions to ask at the interview. All candidates should be asked the same questions to ensure that they all have the same opportunity to sell themselves and can be assessed consistently. The OP did the right thing in cutting the interview short once it became apparent this was not a company she would want to work for.

It wasn't unhinged to leave the interview early.
The employer was obviously not the right one for the OP and that became clear during the interview. The OP decided during the interview she didn't want to work for them so she chose to end the interview and not waste either her or the employer's time any further.
Good for her.

And what would be wrong with that?

If all the candidates are given the best chance to shine, then it means you can choose a candidate based on the evidence of what they have done, rather than their ability to remember every single thing they've done at work in .5 seconds. Or to talk BS.

Standard interviews are notoriously bad for not getting the right candidate (around 7% success rate)

I had an interview once. Timed for 10am. When I arrived there were 5 other candidates.
the man came out to greet us, said he’d be interviewing one by one, and ‘sort out the order between you’. One woman Immediately said ‘I’ll go first, another butted in ‘I’m second’. I had taken a morning off work and was due back at 12 so just stood up and said ‘I’m withdrawing‘ and walked out with my head held high!

I think there’s jobs we know are not going to be suitable, and as you said OP, saves wasting both your time.

How do you ensure consistency when comparing candidate responses then if you only decide what you’re going to ask when you get in the room? Are you sitting there going “ooh that’s a good one, must remember to ask candidate 2 the same question!” 😂

Completely agree with all of this!

@cigarsmokingwomanI think you’re a legend for finishing the interview early. I really wish I’d done that myself on several occasions. You should feel proud of yourself.

Such a lack of understanding on this thread about reasonable adjustments in interviews. I suggest those people who are perplexed by having interview questions sent to candidates in advance google the subject!

I’ve had interviews recently where all the candidates have been sent the questions in advance. It was so good. Some of them were asking for examples of quite specific situations. I was able to have a good think about the best examples from my work experience, as would all the other candidates have done. As a consequence, the interviewers would have had a much better insight into each of our work histories.

As for the pp who said they think up the questions in the interview - they’re obviously a shit interviewer and don’t give a fuck about equity in recruitment.

The whole thing felt off. The tone was wrong, the expectations were ridiculous, and there was no sign of respect for my experience or the effort I’d put into preparing. Eventually, I just said I was ending the interview because it was a waste of both our time
Good for you OP. It was clear to you that the job wasn't the right fit for you, both from the expectations of a part-timer doing the role which was previously done by a full-timer and the fact they weren't taking your disabilities into account.

I left the Teams call feeling small, upset, and wondering why I’d ever applied
Please don't feel small and upset. You stood up for yourself and removed yourself from a situation that wasn't appropriate for you. Don't lose heart, you'll find something else which is more suitable.

And please ignore the ableist shite on this thread. There's far too much of it on MN.

People forget the interview process is a two way thing. I would have had no hesitation in doing what you did only probably sooner.
Too many red flags and who would want to work for an organisation like that!

Erm… I think you need to read up on your D&I training before you post on here giving advice. I know your post is intended with good will but for someone who has expressed they have multiple disabilities, asking for the questions in advance as a reasonable adjustment is perfectly acceptable and something you make work for you as an interviewer. It’s not about what works for you, it’s about what make the interview process inclusive. Everyone has different learning and preparation styles, and how we take in/deliver information. Learning difficulties as well as physical restrictions eg hearing challenges, sight challenges may require questions in advance to help give candidates the best chance of performing well on the day. Your need to be organic as you say should never come before this. There’s always room for organic questions and discussion but the core competency questions around the role and job description should be easy to share in advance.

Sorry to ‘lecture’ but this person has come on to explain her horrendous interview experience; a lot of which is down to them not being inclusive. Let’s not make their reasonable adjustment request the problem.

God people really don't understand reasonable adjustments do they? And/or they just can't resist a pile on.

I agree with other posters that you should be proud for standing up for yourself in a crappy situation. You definitely dodged a bullet.

Well done. They failed your interview and you ended it as they are not a good employer for you and this is not a good job for you ( or anyone else!)

@blueblueelectricblues

Such a lack of understanding on this thread about reasonable adjustments in interviews. I suggest those people who are perplexed by having interview questions sent to candidates in advance google the subject!

So, according to you they should definitely seek to know more, just not by asking questions of someone with the experience to answer those questions.....???
Surely it's better to ask someone who actually knows rather than rely on Google. That's all people are doing, improving on their 'lack of understanding' ?

Disgusted by some of the responses on here. You did brilliant and should be so proud of yourself for sticking with your guns. They aren’t worth it clearly and you’ve dodged a bullet, but so sad it resulted in you feeling that way. ❤️

I think whether this is reasonable depends on the role requirements.

Also, asking questions you’d expect anyone to know the answer in your sector isn’t patronising or demeaning - it’s essential.

I have had qualified accountants who cannot answer a simple double entry question - it’s basic and I’ve assumed knowledge in the past and it’s burned me royally.

Being given questions in advance is fine but not being able to elaborate if necessary is an issue.

I think it’s completely unrealistic for them to expect a PT person to do a FT role especially when new to the business.

I think ending an interview early if you get a bad vibe is fine.

It doesn’t sound like a good fit.