Deliberately sabotaging job interview?

[sourcreamnchives]

Has anyone ever got halfway through a job interview and realised they wouldn't want the job and deliberately sabotaged it?

I haven't. Have you?

Yes.

First question, are you still a serious candidate?

I said no and walked out

No, what would be the point? You have no idea where those people interviewing may pop later in your career and you don't want them carrying a bad opinion of you with them.

You do your best through the interview and then turn it down politely if it's not the job for you.better to leave them with a positive opinion of you.

Yes. The interviewers asked why I was applying for the job, and I told them that I didn't want such a long commute. They then told me they wanted an account manager to travel the length and breadth of the country, so I just told them that I wasn't what they were looking for.

I kind of did in a second interview. I knew after the first I didn't want the job, but I needed it, so went to the second, knowing they were very keen. I wasn't brave enough to just not go but once I was in it, I realised how much I truly couldn't work with these people. I didn't walk out but I did give answers I knew would count against me. No regrets. I shudder just thinking about what it would have been like to work there.

For me it was when they asked the question: "would you miss research?" And I said "yes, yes I would because that's what I do."

I think I'd rather go through the interview and then turn it down if I did get it because I'd be curious about whether I could get the job, if you see what I mean.
I think that if you don't want the job you might subconsciously sabotage it anyway.

Why would you sabotage it rather than just say 'actually I have realised this job isn't for me and dont want to waste any more of your time'? Or are you 8?

I recently went for a job I wasn't really sure about but felt it was good to push myself outside of my comfort zone and it was more money.

Got quite a way through the process before I told them I wasn't interested but with hindsight I think my ambivalence leaked out at interview and I subconsciously sabotaged things. I find it hard to imagine they would ultimately have gone with me anyway.

Yes. I didn't want the job but wanted them to refund my travel and accommodation costs (was on other side of the country). So I just said a couple of things in the interview that I knew would lose me points. I might have not got the job anyway, of course!

No why would you sabotage it?!

I’ve had candidates who have said I don’t think this is for me and that’s perfectly fine - interviewing is a two way process. I’ve never felt negatively when someone has done that: not all jobs are right for all people.

I would however feel pretty pissed off if someone deliberately messed around with “sabotage”. It’s rude and disrespectful.

No, but never I’m positioN where I wanted to. I wouldn’t as I might come across that interviewer or organisation again.

My professional integrity wouldn't allow me, you meet people in the strangest of places in our industry.

I would call my employment agent and tell them that I was unlikely to want to proceed.

No longer a problem as I retired ten years early in January.

I have walked out of an interview when I found out the salary was half of what they advertised and they expected you to make up the rest in commission. I just politely said I was going to leave so neither of us wasted our time. But the job market was a lot easier at the time and I had other interviews lined up.

No, I've always done my best and then politely said that I didn't think it was the role for me when offered the job. As a PP said, interviewing is a two way process, nothing wrong with saying you have decided it isn't for you based on the interview. Better to do it when they want you, rather than sabotage it so they don't - you never know what and where you might want in the future!

I don't understand sabotaging the interview in case you'll be offered the job . You are allowed to turn the offer down??

Depends.

I once had a 2 handed interview - senior manager and techie. No issue with the techie questions (quite a few approving nods and agreements).

Then the manager started banging on about them being a "pie and a pint kind of place" which turned out to be code for an expectation of unpaid overtime every day.

I just replied that obviously there are times when putting a few hours extra in for a project was inevitable, but that it should be used to disguise incompetent management.

(Ever have that feeling when you know someone is trying desperately not to react. That was what I had from the poor tech guy).

You could have skated on the atmosphere after that. I had a rejection text from the agency before I had handed my visitors pass back.

They went bust shortly after.

I haven’t but DH did. He was asked in detail about whether he had children, how old they were and what his childcare arrangements were. He was so taken aback that he repeated the questions back to the interviewer who didn’t like it - he didn’t get the job and was delighted not to be working for such idiots.

No, I'm terrible at interviews but I don't blow them deliberately!
I'd just finish up and then decline if offered the job.

I went for an interview which was advertised as a full time academic post in a university.

One of the first questions asked was would I consider a job share? I said no, because being single I needed a full time salary to meet my expenses and did not have a partners income to fall back upon. I realised at that point that they wanted to run the post as a job share. I added that as job share had not been mentioned in the ad I considered it very misleading, and that the post should have been offered as full time/possible job share. That would then have filtered out people like me who were not interested in job share so that we did not waste our time.

I realised that by saying that I would not endear myself to the interviewer. However I felt my criticism was valid and that their actions were not transparent.

Strangely enough they did offer me the post - as a job share. I turned it down, reiterating my feeling that the advertisement had been very misleading.

I later heard from a colleague that they had a preferred internal candidate who was only interested in part time for domestic reasons. So in a job share I would have found myself playing second fiddle to them and their child rearing responsibilities. It would be the classic story of someone childfree probably picking up the slack for someone who has a family. I would have got all the shitty hours and probably all the shitty jobs. Unfair.

I made the right decision.

I recently attended an interview where the annual leave was vaguely advertised as 'generous entitlement'. First thing they mentioned when I'd sat down was the AL which was significantly less than my current job. My heart sank but I continued on with the interview anyway and got the call a few days later with the offer. I turned it down but it was definitely a confidence boost to know that my skill set is desirable and at the very least it was useful for interview practice having not attended for interview in almost a decade

Yes, after I clocked the entirely male team and was asked after my reproductive status I got the ick. The room I'd be working in had no natural light, and rather than a development role - it was tech support front line. There were literally no women apart from the receptionist.

Do you have a flexible working policy? What was their representation of female leadership at senior level? And even when they ballsed up those answers I asked about sick pay just to make sure.

I didn't even get to the first question of one of the jobs I went for in my student days.

It was a call centre type job for an "elite" industry.

My interview started late so I spent 15 minutes watching a floor manager literally screaming at the workers.
The interviewed called me in and apologised and said at least I'd had a chance to see the centre at work and what did I think?
I took issue with the screaming and was told in was needed to motivate people.

"I disagree. That's not how you motivate people," I said.

She stood up walked over and held the door open. Actually took me a second or two to realise o was being dismissed.

Was upset at the time as I needed the money but as nowDH pointed out it would have destroyed my mental health.

@Ravenclawsome

I didn't even get to the first question of one of the jobs I went for in my student days.

It was a call centre type job for an "elite" industry.

My interview started late so I spent 15 minutes watching a floor manager literally screaming at the workers.
The interviewed called me in and apologised and said at least I'd had a chance to see the centre at work and what did I think?
I took issue with the screaming and was told in was needed to motivate people.

"I disagree. That's not how you motivate people," I said.

She stood up walked over and held the door open. Actually took me a second or two to realise o was being dismissed.

Was upset at the time as I needed the money but as nowDH pointed out it would have destroyed my mental health.

Lucky escape from that one! As a customer I have taken a few managers to task for screaming at their staff. Probably didnt help.

@TooMinty

I have walked out of an interview when I found out the salary was half of what they advertised and they expected you to make up the rest in commission. I just politely said I was going to leave so neither of us wasted our time. But the job market was a lot easier at the time and I had other interviews lined up.

My DH did something very similar. The recruiter had passed on the wrong salary bracket for the role (turns out the company wanted to pay peanuts for the experience required). He was in and out after 10 minutes after both parties agreed that it was a waste of time continuing with the interview. It was doubly irritating as he'd spent a lot of time and money travelling to the head office (not where he would have been based had he got the job)!