Has an employer ever done something during the recruitment process that’s put you off them completely?

[PaperTrailTired]

I recently went through a recruitment process that’s really made me rethink applying to that organisation again. Nothing dramatic but the way things were handled (changing expectations, poor communication and mixed messages) left a bad taste. Has anyone else had a similar experience, where something about the process itself, not even the job, made you think “never again?”

What happened and did it change how you approach applications now?

Odd post. 3 random words for a user name. What's your AIBU? Why do you want to know? What are you going to do with the information if anyone responds?

I went for an interview once for a job I really wanted. They left me waiting for nearly an hour before they came to get me, and didn't acknowledge it or apologise. I thought it was bloody rude. I did the interview and then phoned that evening to say I'd reconsidered and could they take me out of the running.

Why don’t you tell us what your actual experience was? You haven’t given any detail, but you’re asking for stories from people.

Nothing odd about it. Stop being a conspiracy theorist.

Firm of solicitors in Bristol asked me what my father does for a living.

a post-Covid one. They rang me in the morning and asked if I could go an hour early as someone else had dropped out. Must have been several drop outs as there were only 2 of us there.

Process was a presentation to a panel, a meet the team event and then the formal interview. They had someone else’s presentation up when I went into the first room and tried to argue that it was mine. Team were the most miserable group of people I’d ever met - the longest serving staff member had 18 months experience and let slip that they had had 7 CEOs in 5 years and that they basically got no direction from the leadership. Came out of there to discover that they had scheduled a break for lunch. The other candidate didn’t know the town and so I ended up taking her to a local cafe. Awkward.

I realised about 30 seconds into the formal interview that the manager and I would not get on at all but still gave it my best. She got an admin person to show me out, which she did into the reception area through a security door. Except reception was closed and the outer door locked up. Took me 45 mins to break out. Security guard that found me said I should have been let out of the back.

The manager took a week to ring and offer the job and I turned it down, telling her exactly why. I should have scarpered at lunchtime really.

If you say so. But anyway. What's your AIBU? Why do you want to know? What are you going to do with the information when people respond?

If you’re trying to insinuate that it’s going to end up in the press or it’s just to encourage posting or something like that, then just report it? They’re hardly asking for intensely private information. It’s a public forum. And weird usernames? We all have them?

When they told me they only offer 25 days holiday it was a dealbreaker

EIGHT stage recruitment process. Eight. And then took three weeks after the final interviews to let candidates know the result (and I was an internal candidate.

Just in the time the process took I applied for, interviewed for and got a different job.

Hospital consultant asked what kind of school my high school was. I finally worked out that he was referring to comprehensive/grammar/public. So I answered with comprehensive. His response 'I didn't think you could get those grades from a comprehensive school'. That's right mate, there are no clever kids in comprehensive schools, even in areas where there are no grammar schools. We magically all disappear or lose our brain cells down the loo. I should have taken it as a sign they would be an elitist bunch of tossers to work with and run a mile, but I didn't. I've got savvier as I've got older.

They wanted me to do an hour long presentation followed by Q and A for a support role. On delving further it turned out there wasn't a manager and they were clearly looking for someone to take on management responsibilities without the tile or pay.

Went for an interview for a job clearly advertised as telesales when I was 18. Had a short interview and then was told the second part would be in another office a few streets away and me and the other interviewees would be walked over there. On this walk, several other young people in suits appeared and started telling us how much they loved their jobs and how much money they were making. Then we stopped at a bus stop and were handed tickets. I don’t know why I got on it but felt blindsided and too shy back then to back out. You can see where this is going…
So we sat on this bus for ages, and all got off near a posh housing estate and then were told we were going door to door selling sky! At this point I knew damn well I didn’t want the job but I had no idea how to get home. This was before google maps. So I plodded along smiling at the dozens of people who told us they weren’t interested. It must have been a couple of hours before I built up the courage to walk off. Found my way to the bus stop and eventually got on one. Only to find another young man in a suit looking bewildered. He just mumbled something like “you as well?” 🤣 Took me two hours to get home as I’d got on the wrong bus. It’s funny now, it wasn’t then!

Wait a minute...

My current place gives me the legal minimum which is 20. I would love to have the extra week.

Being asked to demonstrate the colour shape I consider myself to be.
Choices. Red triangle. Green circle. Blue square.
I said I didn't understand the question.

It was painfully awkward. I said I didn't know and "skipped" the question. Stupidly I sat there and continued the rest of the moreless normal interview.

I didn't get the job but cba to work for a company that's into that kind of wierd shit. Im not sure if the interviewers were just bored and taking the piss!!

Another......Was called into the office with 2 people sat behind a desk. I was greeted and asked/told "please take a seat". Except there wasn't a seat. So I said "there isn't a chair". They replied "Well done you've passed the first test"and then one of them got up and went out the door for a few moments whilst I stood thier awkwardly looking at the 1 other person behind the desk . They then brought me in a chair to sit on and a normal interview persuade.

Nuts!!

Interview process is a two way, loads of jobs I haven't progressed because i didn't like the hiring process, interviewer/manager/team, office/location etc. I think you get a gut feel if the company or role will be the right fit.

It's hard as some questions are just ice breakers with no right or wrong answer, some are just weird, but the missing chair is strange unless just an oversight.

Applied for what was clearly advertised as a full time role. No mention of part time. Interview went well then the interviewer, a well known academic, asked me if I would consider a job share. I said no, because the resulting salary would not cover my needs as a single person. I also made the point pretty firmly that it was very misleading to offer a full time role to entice applicants in if they really wanted a job share employee. The interviewer told me that it was genuinely advertised as a full time role because that was envisaged at the time. In the meantime an existing staff member returning from maternity leave had asked to drop down to part time hours and this was one way to solve the problem. I reponded that in that case the existing employee was bound to get the most attractive hours and work while the incomer would have to take what was left. The interviewer was rather sheepish and said well that would be by negotiation. I told the interviewer that this was a deal breaker and I was definitely not interested in a part time appointment. They subsequently offered me the job share but I refused in a very strongly worded letter telling them why.

Another academic interview for a research fellow to work on a 2 year funded project, They asked me how I would go about solving the problem they were going to take 2 years to research. I responded "Well you are proposing to take 2 years to work on a solution to this project with a multi disciplinery team. However you have just blindsided me with a totally unfair question as to how I, as an individual, would do that. This appears to be a very disorganized project." The interviewer blustered that "Surely I must have some ideas." However at that point I rose and told them I was withdrawing my application. I later heard that a former colleague had been offered the post. She went off sick with stress after 3 months and subsequently resigned

I called to reschedule an interview due to a close family bereavement. They were fine about accommodating a move of about a week.

So a week later, I get ushered in, shook hands, and the MD says conversationally to the panel ‘so Sally’s dad died last week’ and everyone looked at me with sympathetic tuts. Absolutely stopped me in my tracks. It was a project role, and I got it, but I was really take aback to have such a recent bereavement brought up in front of strangers.

Must be 20 years ago now but the man interviewing me just sat back in his swivel chair and put his feet up on his desk.

Don't know why but it just gave me weird creepy vibes so I just walked out.

First time poster and, as pointed out by someone else, odd user name.

I'm calling this one out for being AI and looking for responses for a LLM training model.

my most recent interview, first one for many years, they did not put me at ease or tell me about the job
given i have been involved in recruitment, it made me realise they werent worth bothering about

Being asked to described my most recent adventure by an interviewer half my age.

Anorher was about 25 years ago when I was asked what I didn’t like about my current role. When I told them one of the tasks that was my least favourite the two middle aged men started giggling like school kids and said ‘we’re so evil we’d give you that task every week to make ourselves laugh’

And they offered me the job - no thanks

This sounds unbelievable to younger people but my first ever job interview back in the 80’s the interviewer smoked through the entire process then told me i had the job and could join his office haram.

I went to an interview being advertised as part of a project that I was specialised in. During the interview it became clear that the job advertised as about 15 hours a week (I was working on my PhD, so after just a few hours) was broken up into about 8 shifts at opposite ends of the day. The impression I'd got from them is that it would be over two days, in two blocks.

I left the interview planning to just let it go. They called me later that afternoon to offer it to me, I declined and told them nicely the reasons why (shift pattern not as expected, skill set they were after too low for my interest even though the bigger project was perfectly aligned). They were very keen to recruit me and emphasised how glowing my references were and how they'd been told they were lucky to get me and should snap me up, so almost begged. I stuck to my decision firmly and they then swung in attitude and started talking about how they wanted someone really committed to the role. I wished them luck finding them.

I was put off because I felt the position was really misrepresented.