reasons to reject offer of the job...

[charlottenina]

I should have cancelled my interveiw but because I want to keep good terms iwth the company in the future, I decided not to cancel interveiw: to go and then if offered, decline on the basis that at the moemnt does not suit my needs...?

I had a similar dilemma recently. In the end I declined the second interview on the basis that I'd been made an offer elsewhere. (Which was not entirely true, I was confident of being made an offer elsewhere but it had not happened at that point, and technically still hasn't some weeks later).

As a recruiter I tend to get a bit miffed with people that cancel interviews - mostly because I've usually short-listed people and so somebody's missed out who might otherwise have got an interview. That said, I'd be more annoyed if I went through the interview process and then had somebody decline on me - would just feel like I'd been wasting my time.

So I guess if you do decide to cancel at either point, just be clear about why - if you can be enthusiastic about the company but find specifics about the role that means it's not for you that's probably going to be best - but either way I think your interviewer may find it a bit disrespectful.

Sorry - but recruiting can be quite a painful process and people messing you around just makes it worse!

I have to say, at our place the recruitment process is so slow that it is fairly common to get people falling out mid-process because they've been made an offer elsewhere. So partly to be expected.

In this case, I had been honest with the recruitment agency that I hadn't had the best impression of the employer from the first interview but was prepared to go back again to discuss things in more detail. However, the day before the interview the goal posts were all shifted and I was told to expect an extra interview that appeared from nowhere and asked to complete my slides a day early. This basically compounded my misgivings about the employer but I didn't particularly want to go into it with the agency, who would naturally have a vested interest in persuading me I should continue.

By this point, the second firm just looked like a better bet. The first job had been advertised for a year at this point and I didn't really think they could afford to get so demanding if they had found someone they wanted to take through to the next stage, frankly. (I was also concerned as to whether there was really a job there, if it had been empty for a year).

I take your point, though, about shortlisting - not an issue in my case but it's something worth considering.

Sorry tribpot wasn't meant as a criticism, just more venting about my personal experience of people dropping out because they've reconsidered and it's not for them - well think about it before you apply next time! Last time I advertised a role only half the people we invited for interview turned up - the rest cancelled at short notice with really feeble reasons which doubly wound me up because I'd had to arrange childcare to be able to interview out of hours. So I may be slightly biased on this one!

But completely agree that if the company are messing you around and you wouldn't want to work there then better to just be honest - I was more thinking of where the OP mentioned about wanting to keep in with the company - harder to do if they feel you've been messing them about.

What are the reasons you now don't want the job OP?

If you don't want it just tell them. An interview is a two way thing imo.

I know what you mean, slev. Recruiting is soul-destroying, and being a candidate is bloody awful too :) There should be a better way!

just more venting about my personal experience of people dropping out because they've reconsidered and it's not for them

But interviews are two-way things. I've turned a job down because there was no natural light in the office, and the commute would have been vile, and it wasn't sufficiently different from the position I was in at that point, nor with much better prospects and the money wasn't enough extra to make it financially worth while. Until I'd been to interview, and they'd made me an offer which included money, other than possibly the commute, I wouldn't have known any of these things, so I couldn't have decided it wasn't for me beforehand.

Dealing with recruiters can be pretty soul-destroying, too, especially those who don't even bother to get back to you even after an interview to let you know you didn't get it. (To be fair, most aren't that bad.)

I think slev was a bit unfair. She is posting from a recruiters point of view.
I have refused jobs. I have gone to interview and realised it wasn't for me.
Both are fine.
As said, it is a 2 way process.
If we got into a debate of recruiters being let down compared to job hunters being let down by recruitment agencies, I think we all know job hunters get a poor deal, so let's not go down that road!

Nearly everyone I know: recruiters don't contact you. No interview feedback anymore. No point ringing them.
If they want you, so as to get their commission , then it's like lightning.
It's just the way it is these days.

What if people were chosen for jobs via a lottery? I'm not sure overall it would result in any worse a selection process and would save a lot of time and angst on both sides along the way :) (I may be slightly jaded by the fact my current organisation is so weak at using the probation period to weed out those who've been incorrectly employed that it's now abolished the concept entirely. We are literally stuck with everyone who gets a foot in the door).

I recently turned down a job after the 2nd interview (interviewed by 6 persons in succession) and just as HR was doing up the offer letter. The problem was that it was a different industry and I had to attend the interviews to research the role further and also get to the point where they were more concrete about the figures. I needed a definitive package and look at career prospects to see whether it was worth my while to jump ship from where I currently have a cushy number in terms of flexibility.

Although they offered 20-30% more and my immediate team would be lovely, I turned it down because I would be starting in a new industry in a stepping stone position where I would have to work harder to find my niche. I would also have less flexibility, a less varied job and less job security, whilst being de-skilled from a lot of the experience I have gained so far in my current industry. In other words, it was too big a risk at this time of my life where my dcs are coming up to secondary school.

If there was an easier way to get to that decision without wasting people's time, believe me, I would do it. It was a gruelling and emotionally draining experience and a stressful 3 weeks.

"My current organisation is so weak at using the probation period to weed out those who've been incorrectly employed that it's now abolished the concept entirely. We are literally stuck with everyone who gets a foot in the door"

They've probably abolished probation because it's meaningless in law anyway. The only thing that changes once probation is passed is that the notice period often increases, although that is obviously dependent on the contract. It's no more difficult to get rid of someone the day after they passed probation than it is the day before.

I think slev is unfair too. I recently turned down further interviews with a company after 3 interviews. The reason being I already have 2 other offers and I got the feeling after 2 of the interviews with that company that it is not worse than the others.

We don't just go on to interviews to waste people's time. It takes up our own personal time too. But at the end of the day, if there's a better offer elsewhere, what can we do? It's not like we set out initially to be unenthusiastic about the company.

Speaking on the recruiting side, I'd much rather be told in advance that you no longer wish to attend the interview, saves me time. I'm not in an industry where I am overwhelmed with candidates so don't operate short lists, so you not turning up wouldn't have deprived someone else of an interview. I don't work in HR so I'm a bit surprised naive to hear that agencies don't pass on feedback, I always give feedback to the agencies because they have asked for it.

I mean the company is worse and I don't see myself working there.

I am being unfair, yes. But I was specifically replying to the OP who said I want to keep good terms with the company in the future.

Clearly most of the reasons people have quoted on here are perfectly valid ones for not wanting a job and I'd never advocate taking one just so that don't upset someone - or to that matter, going through the mtotions of an interview if you have no plan to accept. But in a number of those instances you've decided that it's the company that's not for you and so to a degree, it almost doesn't matter what impression you leave behind.

What I meant to say (and clearly said it very badly!) is that people pulling out can create a bad impression - maybe it shouldn't be like that, but as a recruiter you don't always know what's somebody's thinking and all you get is a garbled message from an agency that the candidate changed their mind. So all I was trying to emphasise is that if you do want to pull out, and you want to do it on good terms, better to be open about why you're pulling out and what it is that may change in the future (e.g. "having understood more about the role, it doesn't have as much people contact as I would like, but I do really like the company and if something that was more customer facing came up in future I'd definitely be interested in applying for that sort of role").

And yes, I've been both interviewee and interviewer so I do understand the frustrations on both sides - but that's why I think it's fairer to both people to be open and honest about your decisions.

Anyway, suspect the OP has gone for the interview now so let's hope she gets someone more understanding than me interviewing her

I'm a bit surprised naive to hear that agencies don't pass on feedback

Most people do if you've actually been to interview, IME. Just one or two annoying ones who don't.