AIBU to see this accidental rejection email as a red flag?

[ElizabethReed]

What they do not want
Too senior
This is a major red flag.
They do not want:

• 15–20 year veteran
• people who have “done everything already”
• people who feel too established / too corporate
• someone who may be less hungry for a builder seat

G specifically said profiles like “I built xxx rm” are probably not the right fit.

I accidentally received this email along with my rejection today. The notes from the hiring manager.

Sorry, I’m struggling to understand your post - who’s G? Is the “major red flag” comment yours or was in their email? You’ve said the do not want twice, but made one “not” bold. I don’t even know where to begin on the rest of the word soup.

Ultimately it doesn’t matter if it’s a red flag or not - they rejected you! It’s not like you are choosing whether to accept a job offer or not.

Yes, exactly.

Your post is confusing so hard to comment on the detail, but overall it sounds like they rejected you so I don't see the relevance of red flags. You're not going to be working with them so it doesn't matter, does it?

He was an idiot to send them to you, but they’re interview notes, and he obviously had doubts about you, hence the rejection - when it comes down to fit for the role, it often is this cut and thrust.

I kind of understand it.
I would interpret it as - we are going to put all of X on the job description but actually what we truly want is someone who can just about get the job done for 20k less rather than someone who is more experienced and more expensive.

I mean, you might, if you wanted, send the email back to HR or whoever in the company that was hiring with a note saying 'This was accidentally sent to me along with the letter of rejection. As I'm sure you realise, this is deeply unprofessional.'

Are they a start up? If so they might have found from previous experience that people who are "corporate" aren't flexible enough and rely too much on policy and guidance. People who work for the same organisation for a long period of time also tend to leave their next job within a reasonably short period of time for a variety of reasons.

This may not be you but unfortunately by the sounds of it you fall into at least 2 of these categories. If you apply for similar jobs you could tweak your CV accordingly.

Why?

Yeah, that might a bit risky to reject someone just because they have 15-20 years exp, if that's what the notes mean. There's not enough detail here to know though. Possibly indirect age discrimination.

Because it's a fairly serious breach, and could easily have contained actionable material that the OP, had she been so minded, could have acted on. By making it clear that she's seen it and noted it, she's making herself look professional.

If you interview like you post, they were probably just confused

They don't want people with lots of corporate experience. That's reasonable enough isn't it? It's not like the accidental email is slagging you off or being rude.

Just take it that those are the reasons why you didn't get it and move on.

I understood none of that OP 😬

Yes, I don't think there's anything wrong with the email as such, only that it shouldn't have been sent to one of the candidates they rejected.

They don’t want someone with tonnes of experience. they want someone newish to the workforce, more malleable and excited about a career.

seems fine to me.

i don’t really understand your point.

I wouldn't bother saying anything to HR. It won't make them say "oh look at this very professional woman reporting a mistake. Let's give her a job" it will make them say "shit" No upside to that for OP.

Every time you apply for a job and don't get it there are reasons - and you got to see the reasons you were rejected this time. It would be a massive red flag if it had said something like "she's gay and we don't want that" or "might need maternity leave". They simply think you were too senior for the job and might not be flexible enough for what they want. It is useful information if you ever go for a similar job - as a pp said tweak your cv and adjust your responses at interview.

I agree it is very annoying when they ask for proven experience and then don't give you the job because you have proven experience.

It's all just code for 'we don't want someone old'

Isn't that just age discrimination?

You got the true feedback rather than something worded by HR to politely mean nothing. In a way you got what we don’t usually get.

as long as it’s not breaking any equality laws, eg too old, too white, too male then theres not much you can do

from a hiring perspective I would say that they should’ve filtered CVs properly if they don’t want someone with 15-20 years experience. Sounds like HR and the hiring manager are not aligned at all. I would give them some constructive feedback along those lines.

But it does read like indirect (well, even direct) age discrimination. Which is a protected characteristic, same - as you say- if OP was gay and was rejected for that reason.

No downside to sending to HR either, if they think ‘oh shit’, what might happen to OP? They reject her a second time?! Least HR can then help the interviewer to better understand the basics of discrimination on the basis of protected characteristics.

I would send to HR OP, and ask something like ‘if you were looking for a specific level of inexperience, why didn’t the advert say so?’ And watch them wriggle a little bit uncomfortably. But I’m very happy to call out ageist bullshit where I see it.

This kind of thing should be filtered out at CV stage. It shows a realiy poor process for interview selection. It’s wasting a lot of people’s time.

It's not a red flag, they can want who they want, whether it's going to be a fit for you is another question. Plenty of places want someone they can mold into a role and woudl see someone too established as not what they are looking for

Indeed. But in a way it means OP gets more information about why she wasn't successful. It's clearly the fact she had too much experience for their liking. Which isn't her fault but knowing that's why could mean you can draw a line under it and move on. Rather than get offended or dwell on the situation.

Yes, agreed. I wouldn't be offended or dwell on it either. I would probably send it back to them with a neutral 'I think this was sent in error' message and not give it another thought.

I agree. And I think that I would pass it onto HR with that message.