3 Hour Interview ordeal: nothing back

LegacyUser

Hi there, I'm still looking for work in my field of expertise.

I went to a second interview (first was on phone) a few days ago for a role in one of my most familiar areas. I was told I'd be doing one assessment on one area/ programme to see my knowledge of it as it was what they were recruiting for. She said she wouldn't be attending the interview as she had to travel for a conference that day.

There were two interviewers, the first interviewer, call her Jane, was quite harsh, at one point throwing my CV on the table asking me how any of my experience was relevant to the position and looking for problems saying she found a gap in my CV, when in fact there was no gap. I've worked part-time all my life in school and throughout college. I'm 23. Her colleague did not say much.

I have experience in two additional areas and so Jane decided she wanted me to take those assessments too. I informed her I was not as prepared for those as I was for the role I had applied for. She then said she wanted me to do them all the same. I asked her if this was standard, and she said " well we've never had anyone come in with knowledge of all 3 areas so, no". Subsequently, 4 people came in to talk to me about my experience. It was like 4 additional interviews. It was horrid.

It was stressful, I was trying to do the assessments at the same time and I had all these interruptions. I had to think about how to do what I was being asked to do as I hadn't worked with those other two areas for quite some time.

The whole ordeal took 3 hours (the assessments were pretty heavy) but it all went ok. I was successful with the assessments. Then I was shown the door, and told I'd be waiting a couple of weeks before I hear back. I said "ok thank you, bye Jane!" and she ignored me and walked off.

I am completely dumbfounded over this entire thing...

Eoin

pabbynan wrote: »

I am completely dumbfounded over this entire thing...

Don't be. Some people are complete idiots when it comes to interviewing someone. It's quite possible to give a tough interview without being pig ignorant, but some people watch too much of The Apprentice and think that's how it's done.

What were the other 4 interviewers like?

LegacyUser

Hi Eoin,

Thanks for the reply. The other 4 interviewers were really great actually , a completely opposite style to the first two. I was expecting toward the end of those three hours to have been told that I had the job, or that because of the assessments and the interview that I was in a good position. But instead I got a really bad vibe.

I wonder if I might be able to ask for a reason or for some pointers as to why I didn't get the job. I passed the assessments and gave great answers to the questions they asked so I don't see why I shouldn't get the job but I have this feeling that because I spoke up for myself regarding the additional two assessments and my lack of preparation might have made everything go pear shaped. I did politely remind her of the role I originally applied for. I felt she was being unreasonable. Understandably company needs change but I doubt that change could have happened between the time of the phone interview..

You're right too, maybe this harsh style of interviewing is admired by some. It's most certainly something I have never come across in an interview situation, I have been confronted in jobs with this type of thing, but at the preliminary stages you wouldn't expect that type of conduct.

Thanks again for the reply.

Eoin

Do you know for a fact that you didn't get the job?

In my experience, it's pretty rare to offer it on the spot - especially if you have so many people interviewing you. They would want to compare notes with each other, and then talk about any other candidates etc.

Lux23

I was only offered a job on the spot once and after working there a couple of months it was obvious why. Give it a bit of time.

LegacyUser

Thank you all for the replies. I'm going to hold out a few more days and wait and see. But I saw the job was removed from the site so I guess they made a decision. I hope it's for me but... I'm not going to hold my breath. I'm going to keep applying online for other jobs... I will see if I can network with some people from my course and inquire as to whether or not anyone had applied or been asked in for interview with this company and see how they were treated..

LegacyUser

hey just writing in to say I haven't heard back at all from that company and it's been a week now. I guess I didn't satisfy whatever criteria or personality they had in mind. Given that I passed everything it must just look like to them that I wouldn't fit in with the existing team or whatever... who knows..

Am kind of annoyed they haven't even emailed me to let me know. They told us in college that unless otherwise specified , it usually takes aweek for full recruitment process...

Eoin

Best to forget about them then.

pabbynan wrote: »

They told us in college that unless otherwise specified , it usually takes aweek for full recruitment process...

That sounds wildly optimistic in my experience!

Maybe a week from when a company has decided who they're going to offer it to, but that's after all the interviews are done, people have compared notes, final approval from senior management etc.

Lux23

I did an interview in February and they still ring me to say they are waiting to make a decision. A week is nothing!

LegacyUser

Thanks Eoin and Lux. I am thinking of emailing them to ask them whether they have reached a decision yet as it's been a week? Is that normal? Or would they be annoyed with it? Do people normally do this?

Lux23

Assertive people do.

InReality

These days a week is nothing to wait for an answer.
Asking them about the job can't really do any harm.

LegacyUser

Hi thanks for the replies. I sent the email yesterday afternoon. They re-advertised the job within 2 hours of my sending the email. I'm not sure if that's something to go by!

I'll keep my eyes open and ear to the ground!!

Mrs OBumble

Do you really want to work for "Jane"?

thesimpsons

2 things you have to always remember when going for interviews - firstly most interviewers have never had training or guidance on how to conduct an interview. Secondly, while the job is foremost in your mind, in the workplace it might be a lot lower on the list of jobs. company/dept might be interviewing for a number of places, might need to wait till someone gets back to them from hols/sick leave/busy schedule before they can reply to you. A big project might need finishing which pushes your job application down the list of jobs, etc. I worked in HR for number of years and it would be quite common for weeks to go by before a definite decision would be made. best of luck.

murphym7

You were told after the interview's that you will be waiting a couple of weeks before tou hear back, chill the f**k out. I would not advise sending any more emails and certainly do not call them until at least the 2 weeks is up. Patience, if they want you they do, if they don't there is not much you can do about it - stop stessing about it.