What are your thoughts on organisations that want to conduct interviews in a public place?
I ask because I find it a bit weird and inappropriate, and wanted to know if it was just me that feels this way. Whenever organisations ask me to meet them in a place that isn't where they do business, I automatically think "What is it that they don't want me to see?" When the venue they choose is also open to the public, such as a coffee shop or fast food outlet, I additionally think that they haven't given much thought to the necessary privacy of the process. A noisy Starbucks in front of an audience of schoolkids and mums with pushchairs isn't the place to grill me on my private career history and salary expectations, and I'd hope isn't the place that any credible organisation would choose to discuss their confidential skills gap and business challenges.
I stress that I'm not talking here about interviews where distance is an issue, and each party is having to travel to meet the other in some best compromise location that's equidistant from each. I'm talking about situations where their place of business is in the locale where the meeting is taking place, they just decide not to meet in their own offices.
I've given this approach a whirl on a previous occasion, and tbh based on that experience it's a big red flag for me. Even where space is at a premium (which is in itself a red flag, but might be manageable with the right handling), I can't see any excuse for choosing McDonalds over a video call conducted via Skype. If you can get yourself to a room that's comfortable for one person and that has internet access, you should be able to facilitate that. If you can't even find a room for one person with basic facilities such as the internet, then how can you ever hope to run a successful business?
I ask because I find it a bit weird and inappropriate, and wanted to know if it was just me that feels this way. Whenever organisations ask me to meet them in a place that isn't where they do business, I automatically think "What is it that they don't want me to see?" When the venue they choose is also open to the public, such as a coffee shop or fast food outlet, I additionally think that they haven't given much thought to the necessary privacy of the process. A noisy Starbucks in front of an audience of schoolkids and mums with pushchairs isn't the place to grill me on my private career history and salary expectations, and I'd hope isn't the place that any credible organisation would choose to discuss their confidential skills gap and business challenges.
I stress that I'm not talking here about interviews where distance is an issue, and each party is having to travel to meet the other in some best compromise location that's equidistant from each. I'm talking about situations where their place of business is in the locale where the meeting is taking place, they just decide not to meet in their own offices.
I've given this approach a whirl on a previous occasion, and tbh based on that experience it's a big red flag for me. Even where space is at a premium (which is in itself a red flag, but might be manageable with the right handling), I can't see any excuse for choosing McDonalds over a video call conducted via Skype. If you can get yourself to a room that's comfortable for one person and that has internet access, you should be able to facilitate that. If you can't even find a room for one person with basic facilities such as the internet, then how can you ever hope to run a successful business?
Comment