Interview rejection, job re-advertised

Monife

Hi all,

My husband had an interview for X position which he thought went well. He is qualified for the position and has 7 years experience in this industry. They told him a week after his interview that they went with someone more suited to the role. He asked for feedback on his performance and they just ignored the email. A few days later, they re-advertised the job on jobs.ie and they are continually updating it every day (as in the advertise date).

I am wondering is racism at play here as my husband is black and he could do the job with his eyes closed. Any thoughts?

ibstar

Doubt it.
I've been on both sides of the table many times.
Going by what you have felt at the interview is completely different to what the interviewer thought of you.
Also that update date is most likely an auto update, to bump the add.

Starokan

Its possible but unlikely I would say especially if the company is any way established as in a large employer.

If its a small outfit perhaps there is prejudice in play but it may be as simple as they offered the role to someone else who turned it down so they are re advertising. While you may know your husband could do the job with ease perhaps they did not pick this up from his interview.

Regarding the feedback it would be the decent thing to do to provide some for your husband but it may also just be policy not to bother.

I think it would be very difficult to find out if anything like racism was a factor

Shelflife

I wouldn't jump to the racism card straight away. There are lots of reasons why people don't get jobs.
They may feel that he would be using this job as a stepping stone. They may just not like him, which if it was a small company and they would be working with him every day would be very important.
As as said above just because he thought it was a good interview , they may not have.
It could be something as simple as having a decent handshake and looking people in the eye.

witchgirl26

Monife wrote: »

Hi all,

My husband had an interview for X position which he thought went well. He is qualified for the position and has 7 years experience in this industry. They told him a week after his interview that they went with someone more suited to the role. He asked for feedback on his performance and they just ignored the email. A few days later, they re-advertised the job on jobs.ie and they are continually updating it every day (as in the advertise date).

I am wondering is racism at play here as my husband is black and he could do the job with his eyes closed. Any thoughts?

I wouldn't be jumping to that conclusion straight away. They may have been telling the complete truth when they said they went with someone else. That person could have turned them down though & they didn't feel that others they interviewed were right for the position so went back to advertising. It's happened to me a couple of times. Sucks but does happen.

As for the email about feedback - I've had these ignored a few times alright. If he really wants it, send another email or try ringing.

Carlos Orange

There are 2 possibilities and you will never know. Probably best to ignore it.

Giving feedback isn't an easy thing. It has been tough any time I have given it and the one time I have asked it was refused "for legal reasons".

Monife

Thanks everyone.

Just feel really bad for him at the mo, he's not getting anywhere with job applications/interviews and is unemployed the last 3 months. Where as in 2012, he got interviews for every job he applied for and got 5 job offers in the one week, and this was with 3 years less experience so I am just baffled as to why he isn't getting anywhere this time.

Cunning Stunt

In fairness, if he has gotten one interview in the past 3 months that's still not bad, in the current climate.

doc11

What industry? He is too experienced for junior roles and facing more competition now for senior roles perhaps?

jimd2

I agree with the others, it is very difficult to say what the reason is.

However, does he have anything to lose by phoning the contact person and saying that he has seen the job readvertised and that he is still very interested?

If he was in a job the above is not something I would advise but, pride etc goes out the window when you are out of work like this. So, it may not get him back in but it is worth a try imho, nothing to lose if the call is made in a positive and fortright manner.

Kenny Bania

Starokan wrote: »

Regarding the feedback it would be the decent thing to do to provide some for your husband but it may also just be policy not to bother.

It's also hassle if every failed interviewee asks for feedback - it's not practical to start typing up notes to send back to every applicant - you're not their career adviser. People have other work to be doing.
And it's also near impossible to do without offending people - or at the very least them replying and arguing back with you. In reality, most people don't really want to know why they didn't get a job.

Monife

Kenny Bania wrote: »

It's also hassle if every failed interviewee asks for feedback - it's not practical to start typing up notes to send back to every applicant - you're not their career adviser. People have other work to be doing.
And it's also near impossible to do without offending people - or at the very least them replying and arguing back with you. In reality, most people don't really want to know why they didn't get a job.

He actually really wants to know and doesn't mind how negative it is. He has told the interviewers he's met with that he is just looking for some constructive feedback and doesn't mind if it is negative, that he just wants to know where he is going wrong so he can improve.

doc11 wrote: »

What industry? He is too experienced for junior roles and facing more competition now for senior roles perhaps?

Accommodation Supervisor (Hotel industry) with 7 years experience as such. He has applied for supervisory and assistant manager positions and has had 4 interviews in the last 3 months, 1 with an agency.

Kenny Bania

Monife wrote: »

He actually really wants to know and doesn't mind how negative it is. He has told the interviewers he's met with that he is just looking for some constructive feedback and doesn't mind if it is negative, that he just wants to know where he is going wrong so he can improve.

Maybe he does - that's why I said "most" people. But I know this from experience. You tell people they were let down by X in their interview, and you get into an e-mail back and forth with them trying to explain themselves.

Also - what if the reason is offensive? What if he had bad BO?
1) does he want to be told that? Likely not.
2) Are they going to be honest & even tell him that? No chance.

So if it was indeed BO (hypothetically), he'll never know that was the reason. Or maybe he sneezed into his hand then shook their hand? Or maybe he came in stinking of cigarettes? Or bad breath? Just telling you how it is - I've been an employer for 12 years - held hundreds of interviews. There are dozens of other reasons that people are not suitable - reasons you can't tell them.

highlydebased

I think it's bad form to not to provide feedback when asked, some employers feel awkward or think there might be legal repercussions (some will only offer verbal feedback for this reason, so it's not in writing). But if it's framed in a constructive way then what's the bother!

E.g
We liked what you said about xyz. You had interesting ideas about abc. But you could've been stronger when talking about your 123 skills. Etc.

musicfan1ie

highlydebased wrote: »

I think it's bad form to not to provide feedback when asked, some employers feel awkward or think there might be legal repercussions (some will only offer verbal feedback for this reason, so it's not in writing). But if it's framed in a constructive way then what's the bother!

E.g
We liked what you said about xyz. You had interesting ideas about abc. But you could've been stronger when talking about your 123 skills. Etc.

But if you've spent endless hours dealing with HR, interviewing lots of people, reading CVs, as well as doing your busy job, the last thing you want to do is get into a back and forward about how your view was wrong or misinterpreted etc.. Sometimes these jobs are created because your role is way too busy, so to find time to interview can be really hard, let alone back and forward with candidates who weren't successful.

I understand the other side too - you research the company, take time off etc, but surely you either get it or you don't. I've had feedback before and found some of it idiotic. The interviewer could be a clown - why do you want to base your self esteem on his / her comments. When it comes down to it, I just want to know if I got it or not.

Also, its not always a case of someone doing badly, just simply that someone on a gut feeling was a better fit. I've been at interviews where I know I've performed well, but known the candidates I was up against would also be good, so it's sometimes a close call

Starokan

Kenny Bania wrote: »

It's also hassle if every failed interviewee asks for feedback - it's not practical to start typing up notes to send back to every applicant - you're not their career adviser. People have other work to be doing.
And it's also near impossible to do without offending people - or at the very least them replying and arguing back with you. In reality, most people don't really want to know why they didn't get a job.

That's a good point, to be honest I never considered that whomever gets the feedback could try to counteract it, I can see why its not regularly done now

Kenny Bania

Starokan wrote: »

That's a good point, to be honest I never considered that whomever gets the feedback could try to counteract it, I can see why its not regularly done now

Most people don't want to hear the real reason why they didn't get the job - they'll say they do - but they want it to be something generic, like "you just need to brush up on X - but otherwise you were amazing!" Or "we felt the another guy was just slightly ahead of you - but you were great - it was a really hard decision." But that's never the real reason.
Usually there's one standout candidate after a round of interviews - and if it comes down to being close with experience & qualifications - I'll pick the person I'll get on with the best, since I'll be seeing them every day and I have other employees too - so office dynamics always come into play. Who will gel with my existing team?
So when people ask for feedback, you end up having to make something up to plámás them, which is a waste of everyone's time.