Would you burn the bridge after an interview?

Problem Of Motivation

This is something that happened quite a while ago, but I've been forced to think about it again recently. It's about a time I once traveled half the length of the country for an interview and I heard nothing back from them. The two who interviewed me acted all nice in the interview telling that I could email them if I'd any questions. After hearing nothing for two weeks, I was pretty sure by now that I hadn't got the job. I sent an email to the HR lady I dealt with to see what the situation was and I got no reply. I think this is really unprofessional of them, especially seeing as they were the ones suggesting that I could get in touch with them.

At the time I took the view that it was nasty of them, but that sound like a butt hurt loser ringing them up when I'd know they would be trying to avoid me. Something similar to this has happens to me twice now after interviews. I simply cannot pretend that it doesn't annoy anymore. If this ever happens to me again, once I have figured out for myself (the hard way) that I don't have the job (or don't second round interview), I will contact them. And when I do contact them, they will probably think I'm a bit stupid that I haven't figured out by now that I didn't get the job. They will also probably think that if there's any chance of me still being hired by them that I am going about it the wrong way.

And that's where they'll be so very wrong. Because I will make it my personal hobby to keep ringing up and annoying the sh1t out of them. The more they'd do the run around with me, the more I'd play dumb and keep ringing sending letters and emails, getting onto their superiors, etc. I will use them as my punch bag even if it means they think I'm some sort of a weirdo. And you might say there's no point but whatever would happen, you can be bloody sure that they'd remember it for ever more.

What would you do. First of all, it's going to piss you off, you cannot pretend it doesn't. And there's no point in saying it's nothing personal. I know a guy who this happened to who had actually traveled further than I did, and stayed overnight in a hotel. He made the point to stand up to them and they're actually changing their policy now. In his case the company he had the interview with, tried to blame it on the recruitment company as a miscommunication. The recruitment company was then forced to call a spade a spade.

So yeah, unlike my father's advice, I would burn that bridge to the ground.

Irishphotodesk

Yeah, personal issues forum is erm.... Somewhere else

Welcome to the real world. Take your soup and move on.

ILoveYourVibes

Problem Of Motivation wrote: »

So yeah, unlike my father's advice, I would burn that bridge to the ground.

Fair play.

Abba987

Problem Of Motivation wrote: »

This is something that happened quite a while ago, but I've been forced to think about it again recently. It's about a time I once traveled half the length of the country for an interview and I heard nothing back from them. The two who interviewed me acted all nice in the interview telling that I could email them if I'd any questions. After hearing nothing for two weeks, I was pretty sure by now that I hadn't got the job. I sent an email to the HR lady I dealt with to see what the situation was and I got no reply. I think this is really unprofessional of them, especially seeing as they were the ones suggesting that I could get in touch with them.

At the time I took the view that it was nasty of them, but that sound like a butt hurt loser ringing them up when I'd know they would be trying to avoid me. Something similar to this has happens to me twice now after interviews. I simply cannot pretend that it doesn't annoy anymore. If this ever happens to me again, once I have figured out for myself (the hard way) that I don't have the job (or don't second round interview), I will contact them. And when I do contact them, they will probably think I'm a bit stupid that I haven't figured out by now that I didn't get the job. They will also probably think that if there's any chance of me still being hired by them that I am going about it the wrong way.

And that's where they'll be so very wrong. Because I will make it my personal hobby to keep ringing up and annoying the sh1t out of them. The more they'd do the run around with me, the more I'd play dumb and keep ringing sending letters and emails, getting onto their superiors, etc. I will use them as my punch bag even if it means they think I'm some sort of a weirdo. And you might say there's no point but whatever would happen, you can be bloody sure that they'd remember it for ever more.

What would you do. First of all, it's going to piss you off, you cannot pretend it doesn't. And there's no point in saying it's nothing personal. I know a guy who this happened to who had actually traveled further than I did, and stayed overnight in a hotel. He made the point to stand up to them and they're actually changing their policy now. In his case the company he had the interview with, tried to blame it on the recruitment company as a miscommunication. The recruitment company was then forced to call a spade a spade.

So yeah, unlike my father's advice, I would burn that bridge to the ground.

No

Sharp MZ700

Did they call him a spade to his face?

Why don't you spend that time and energy improving your interview technique.

Ubbquittious

I personally wouldn't have the time but I'm glad that someone is taking a stance against ghosting employers. It is a lousy thing to do after someone taking the time and the bother to attend an interview

Feisar

Dude/Man you've opened a can of worms here...

For some reason you didn't garner their respect. Now the whys of this is a big question and I'm not equipped to answer. However a place to start is why some people get bullied and others don't. The victim types blame the bully however they are not the reason. It's all about attitude and your persona.

Dublinandy2

What would be the point, it’s the way the world works, don’t take it personally. Get a dog to talk to.

Ubbquittious

Dublinandy2 wrote: »

What would be the point, it’s the way the world works, don’t take it personally. Get a dog to talk to.

One could always torch the place. That would learn em

Leg End Reject

Your time might be better spent working on your issues.

For some bizarre reason you feel the need to write an essay on the most mundane of issues that the majority of us write off as sh*t happens.

Feisar

Ubbquittious wrote: »

One could always torch the place. That would learn em

No, OP needs to improve themselves.

Dublinandy2

Ubbquittious wrote: »

One could always torch the place. That would learn em

Lol , that deserved a written lol to match my actual one.

Purple Mountain

Wonder why you didn't get the job...

Leg End Reject

Purple Mountain wrote: »

Wonder why you didn't get the job...

I can't think of a single reason ...

Your Face

If you made the effort to travel across country to interview for their job then the least they could do is let you know you didn't get it. Its basic manners.

Don't take it personally OP and look at it as dodging a bullet.

Fr_Dougal

Bring petrol to the next interview.

garyskeepers

I had my first "interview" in 15 years yesterday. Instead of thinking of it like an interview, I thought of it like 'selling myself'

completely different mindset. Got 15k more than my last salary

Never underestimate your own worth

pgj2015

i once did an interview, didnt get that job but they emailed me saying they didnt usually email interviewees after interviews and although i didnt get the job they were impressed with some of my knowledge on certain areas.

i didnt email them back, fcuk them, like i was going to be so happy they emailed me when they usually dont.

pgj2015

you should do exactly what Eminem does in this video below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqaoyvPu-Xs

Watch YouTube videos on handling interviews.

Either way No one owes you a job.

mickoneill31

I'd pop my experience onto glass door and move on. No point being emotional. Maybe they monitor that and give a crap. Maybe not.
I always review companies on glass door prior to an interview for a rough idea of what other interviewees and employees think.

tcawley29

Problem Of Motivation wrote: »

This is something that happened quite a while ago, but I've been forced to think about it again recently. It's about a time I once traveled half the length of the country for an interview and I heard nothing back from them.

Maybe they didn't like the radio, did you have it with you that day?

Pinch Flat

i think you should get a sleeping bag and camp out in front of their building until you get some feedback.

Oink

I actually agree with OP that it’s poor manners. It wouldn’t be so hard to setup a system where you only have to tick a box and an email gets sent to everyone saying thanks but no thanks and no correspondence will be entered into.
Or else take 30 seconds to copy and paste all the addresses from an excel sheet.

But for that you’d have to give a sh!t.

mikemac2

HR, the home of failed middle managers

Pineapple1

Your post seems a bit much, but I will agree it is annoying. And its even worse when you do an unpaid trial and dont even hear anything back. It was only yesterday I sat down in a cafe and realised the woman at the very next table to me was the woman who gave me the trial. She didnt say boo to me and vice versa. I just rolled my eyes to myself as it was such a typical thing to happen in a small town. But how can you burn a bridge when there is no "bridge" there yet in the first place? All you have to do is forget about them the same way they have about you.

Greyfox

Oink wrote: »

I actually agree with OP that it’s poor manners. It wouldn’t be so hard to setup a system where you only have to tick a box and an email gets sent to everyone saying thanks but no thanks and no correspondence will be entered into.

I think everyone would agree it's very bad manners and it's an incredibly frustrating experience but what the op did was a little silly, just wasting his time, company's don't care about the people they dont hire or people they dont want as a backup plan.

Akrasia

Greyfox wrote: »

I think everyone would agree it's very bad manners and it's an incredibly frustrating experience but what the op did was a little silly, just wasting his time, company's don't care about the people they dont hire or people they dont want as a backup plan.

If you get pissy after you don’t get a job, all you’re doing is validating their decision to not hire you.

Also they’re going to put a big red flag against your name on their Talent Acquisition system so that you never have a hope of being hired by that company ever again.

Send them a bullet in the post with a note... I know where you live work!

Don't do it half arsed, if you're going to invest time in being a menace go all out.

In fact it's likely that you came across as half hearted in the interview and this is the reason that you didn't get the job. So, you show them what they're missing!

Or, and here's a thought, you could realise these people are dicks, you were one of many people they met during the process and while they were nice at the interview you really didn't make an impression, and move on.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

I can see why you didn't get the jobs and perhaps it's time you thought about that, rather than raising all these personal issues where you fail to comprehend basic interaction between people.

kikilarue2

Feisar wrote: »

Dude/Man you've opened a can of worms here...

For some reason you didn't garner their respect. Now the whys of this is a big question and I'm not equipped to answer. However a place to start is why some people get bullied and others don't. The victim types blame the bully however they are not the reason. It's all about attitude and your persona.

That’s an absolutely horrendous attitude. By the same logic it’s your fault if you get robbed because you obviously marked yourself out as a victim.

kikilarue2

Deleted User wrote: »

Watch YouTube videos on handling interviews.

Either way No one owes you a job.

He’s not owed a job, I’d say he is owed feedback. He spent time and money traveling to and participating in the interview, it’s both professional and courteous to let him know what happened with his application.

daheff

Leg End Reject wrote: »

Your time might be better spent working on your issues.

For some bizarre reason you feel the need to write an essay on the most mundane of issues that the majority of us write off as sh*t happens.

This attitude is whats wrong with society these days. Its not acceptable to treat people like this.

OP didnt get the jobs. ok. But for the company. to not even bother let him know he didn't is bad. Flip side for OP is that hes better off not working for a company that doesn't value its people or potential people enough & treat them like that.


Op, I wouldnt burn bridges... Irelands too small and you never know where you might bump into them again in the future.

Richard Hillman

I'm not bothered if I don't hear back after an interview.

About 8 months ago I interviewed for a job at a bank. I thought it went well but after not hearing back for 2 weeks or so, I assumed I didn't get it, no biggie. I then got an email to tell me that I wasn't successful but the email contained feedback from the interviewers. The "feedback" was brutal. I am convinced that it was an internal memo that wasn't supposed to reach me. It absolutely shattered my confidence and it took me up until last week to pluck up the courage to apply for new jobs again.

I got an email last week from an agency about interviewing for a role in the exact same bank. I just told her that I interviewed before, they didn't fancy me and I won't be entertaining them with my time again.

I suppose that counts as burning your bridge.

kikilarue2

Richard Hillman wrote: »

I'm not bothered if I don't hear back after an interview.

About 8 months ago I interviewed for a job at a bank. I thought it went well but after not hearing back for 2 weeks or so, I assumed I didn't get it, no biggie. I then got an email to tell me that I wasn't successful but the email contained feedback from the interviewers. The "feedback" was brutal. I am convinced that it was an internal memo that wasn't supposed to reach me. It absolutely shattered my confidence and it took me up until last week to pluck up the courage to apply for new jobs again.

I got an email last week from an agency about interviewing for a role in the exact same bank. I just told her that I interviewed before, they didn't fancy me and I won't be entertaining them with my time again.

I suppose that counts as burning your bridge.

Jesus, sorry that happened you. In between the brutality, did it give you anything useful you could work on?

The Tetrarch

Nothing to be gained.
Years ago a family member got a job and wanted to tell his current employer as he was leaving what he thought of them.
I asked him was he going to stay in his new job until retirement. Answer was no.
Was it possible his next employer after that would contact his previous employers (you list your previous jobs)? Answer was yes.
Why make yourself unemployable for one minute of satisfaction?
Who knows where your letter of complaint could end up?
Interviewers: some have manners, others do not.
You may have been lucky not getting the job.

kikilarue2

I burnt a bridge last year and i'm not sure if I regret it or not.

I was bullied really horribly by my manager even thought I was - by his own admission - doing my job well. I was having a really tough year family-wise but still managing to get all my work done. Rather than support me, he used my difficulties against me.

The last straw came when my brother was in a car crash - a serious one. I took one day off (Monday) - and I took it as annual leave rather than sick leave or anything, to go down and make sure he was okay. That Friday, my boss was emailing me about stuff he said I needed to catch up on to "make up" for taking Monday off. None of it was at all urgent, and you don't have to make up hours for time taken off as annual leave.

I called in sick the following Monday and Tuesday, and resigned on the Wednesday. If he couldn't have an ounce of compassion for the situation I was in, I didn't want to work for him.

I emailed the CEO when I left detailing specific instances of bullying/harrassment and heard nothing back, so a few weeks later I posted it to GlassDoor and I heard from friends still at the company it caused huge ructions.

Two other women had left the company because of him in the previous year and neither of them said anything about why. I just didn't want to f**ker to keep getting away with.

My friends who are still there say that since then he's been much more careful, and doesn't behave like he used to.

The negative impact on me is that I've gone for other jobs in the meantime where people who know us both were involved in hiring, and I'm pretty sure the way I handled it was factored in.

Richard Hillman

kikilarue2 wrote: »

Jesus, sorry that happened you. In between the brutality, did it give you anything useful you could work on?

Yes, just learn off the Wikipedia page of the company and regurgitate it.

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

Deleted User wrote: »

Why don't you spend that time and energy improving your interview technique.

Motivation problem more than likely

OP, your post comes across as having an attitude problem. It serves no purpose what so ever. What good do you think will come of it.

Bridge burning is dumb. It just shows the persons true character. Some industries are just so small and you may end up working with some of these people in the future, or worse, for them.

road_high

Don’t burn your bridges however hard it was. You never know how or what circumstances the interview panel may pop up again. Believe me, I work in a small sector and have seen it several times.
Hold your head up, work on any shortcomings and prove what they missed out on- it’s what I did, now in a managerial role and glad I didn’t get half those ****ty jobs

lainey_d_123

Some of these responses are a real insight into how most people seem to think and behave today.

It's not remotely unreasonable to expect an answer after you've spent time and money travelling to attend an interview. It's basic human courtesy, which seems to be severely lacking in most people.

It takes all of two minutes to put together a list of unsuccessful candidates and let them know they didn't get the job. That this company thinks it's alright to have hopeful people sitting waiting for an answer for days on end to save themselves two minutes says it all about their mentality and work culture.

Westernyelp

Not this guy again...

B.A._Baracus

I've lost count the amount of times employers have told me "we'll be in touch either way just to let you know" - if it's said to me now I just go yeah yeah in my mind.

That said op. You're being a bit of a jerk there. You'd be just annoying someone who had no say in you getting the job or letting you know you didn't.

But I have a theory in life. And I think you confirm it. Lol. It's when people don't get their own way they feel justified to behaving like as*holes.
For the record I ain't judging. How can I as everyone else does it.

lainey_d_123

lainey_d_123 wrote: »

Some of these responses are a real insight into how most people seem to think and behave today.

It's not remotely unreasonable to expect an answer after you've spent time and money travelling to attend an interview. It's basic human courtesy, which seems to be severely lacking in most people.

It takes all of two minutes to put together a list of unsuccessful candidates and let them know they didn't get the job. That this company thinks it's alright to have hopeful people sitting waiting for an answer for days on end to save themselves two minutes says it all about their mentality and work culture.

I think that definitely applies if you attend for interview -- company is clearly interested in buying what you're selling (your labour), and they should be able to tell you yes or no -- ideally within a couple of days, so you can organise yourself.

But I don't quite understand people who expect acknowledgements and answers after only sending in a CV. No reply is a reply. There might be 100s of applications for a few posts, and I'm not sure if it's always reasonable to get back to everyone.

If I applied for a job via email, and got a reply a couple of days later saying, esentially, 'No thanks', I'd be quite annoyed by that. I'd be thinking 'I almost forgot I applied, you shouldn't have bothered telling me'.

Atoms for Peace

An email response would be nice, but why should a HR manager be under any compunction to give you feed back. Given the increasingly litigious way things are going they'd probably be leaving themselves open to a discrimination case or some-such nonsense.

nthclare

I think if I could I'd love to go for interviews and be a right rogue, if I get the impression that the interviewees are knobs just take them for what they are.

No doubt that you'll be getting the usual response of ohh you're taking the chance of someone who badly needs a job, I understand that.

But sure nothing wrong with being a messer and calling these numptys out on their lack of communication and interpersonal skills....

Dunnes stores is one I hear about, call center's is another one.

Oh hotels are the best they're really out to take on for a slave especially if it's a Job like a chamber maid or kitchen poter

Captain Havoc

I don't think burning your bridges is ever a good idea, you never know when you may come across that bridge again. Think of this as a dodged bullet, do you really want to work for a company like that? I think it's very wrong that employers don't email back applicants as perhaps someone was holding off on taking another job.

sportsfan90

I had an interview a few years ago. It was on a Friday afternoon and he told me the job was mine and that he'd confirm it and have contracts ready on Monday.

Monday came and I heard nothing but didn't think much of it. The following Monday I sent a polite email looking for an update. When I got no reply, I sent another email the following week. When I heard nothing back I let it go and accepted a different job offer.

About 8 months later I got a phone call. He told me his name but I had no idea who I was talking to, I presumed it was some recruiter who saw my LinkedIn profile. I let him yap on for a few minutes and I told him I was happy in my current job.

I searched his name in my emails and realised who had called me. He was talking as if it was a day or two after the interview, not 8 months later. And not a shred of an apology for ignoring me previously after telling me I got the job. I since met a few people who worked for him and they rolled their eyes and weren't one bit surprised.

It's a really bad trait in a company. Granted in my case he wasn't HR or in recruitment but he should have been a bit more professional than that. I've no problem not getting a job, but not getting an acknowledgement or even a copy & paste PFO email is bad form after I took a day off work to meet him.

Richard Hillman

Richard Hillman wrote: »

Yes, just learn off the Wikipedia page of the company and regurgitate it.

To be fair, When I interview people a very good question to ask is 'tell me what you know about the company.' You'll know very quickly if someone took the application seriously and has a good attention to detail. Because anybody can write, 'I've a good attention to detail.' and how is the interviewer to know?


So, yes always know some good detail about the company, and that means looking at the website and other media info, 'I see you've recently launched a new do dah.'

lainey_d_123 wrote: »

Some of these responses are a real insight into how most people seem to think and behave today.

It's not remotely unreasonable to expect an answer...

To be clear, I don't think anyone thinks it acceptable not to reply to interviewees. The problem most of us have (and answered in an AH way rather than if it was posted in the work forum) is to tell the OP not to allow the company live in his head rent free.