Reply to: Judging Interviews

[JohnM]

I had two zoom interviews last summer, both went well and both ended with we'll be in touch.


Heard nothing, even when I asked the interviewer direct for info/feedback on Linked In DMs.

Nothing, got proper ghosted. I'm mean tell me I didn't get it that's fine, but to not even respond?

That's contracting for you, but still found it really odd.



qh

It really annoys me that, sometimes you have other offers waiting that you have to try and hold off a bit while you are a waiting and they ghost you. Its so unprofessional but you are right that is contracting

[JohnM]

This is why I hate agencies calling you 15 minutes after the interview asking for your feedback before they have even spoken to the client. It should be the client they are speaking to first. I politely tell them that my feedback is irrelevant as you never can judge how an interview went

Over 20 years contracting I have done so many different interviews and had so many strange things happen, the thing that really annoys me is

a) No feedback for days, they should always come back to you within 24 hours maximum, I find this extremely unprofessional

b) 2/3 stage interview processes for contracts. I am normally only on the market 2 weeks max from when I start looking properly, I have not got time to attend 2 hour long interviews and do a hackathon test, if you have not got the technical ability to judge a contractor on one discussion you shouldnt be a hiring manager. I always turn down hackathon test requests, I have been coding for 20 years but I am not sitting for an hour or two writing code to solve obscure mathematical problems that you will NEVER use again in your IT career

c) Permies who obviously hate contractors spending hours on google trying to find as many obscure and difficult questions as possible and then sitting for an hour grilling you non stop with tech question after tech question whic you know they would not have a clue how to answer themselves without google. It can always cause problems when a permie tech lead is on an interview, sometimes you can also answer to well to and they feel threatened so bomb you on 'not being a good fit' etc

Lots of companies are interviewing and then ghosting now days, I have had agencies speak to me and tell me they ghosted every applicant and said to them send no more CV's, that is so unprofessional they obviously did not have the budget for the role before interviewing etc

I dont let anything bother me anymore, sometimes when the market is at its worse you can get an offer in a day, sometimes when the market is at its best it can take a few weeks but I still get surprised at interviews, I always carry on and do interviews even after an offer if they are already booked as you never know if your offer will fall through. Got one last week first day I looked but then had some of the weirdest interview experiences I have had in years, hence my original post

Don't let bad interviewers get you down, which I know is tough when in the current climate if you are struggling for work, but a lot of the time it is really not your fault or a negative on yourself its just contracting

[Hairlocks]

There seems the be little correlation between how well I think the interview goes and whether I get it except the ones I balls up and even I wouldn't give me the contract. I have always found out very quickly if I have it. Sometimes I feel like I am the backup plan in case the first choice doesn't except, but no proof on that. Normall my just a we have a few more interviews this week you will find out Monday, then the agent doesn't here for another week.

I've learnt never to expect feedback, I don't really believe the feedback either, some times I know it is false. In my experience if the agent leaves a voice mail / emails to say they have feedback and contact them I haven't got it. If I have got it they can't seem to resist saying so in the voice mail / email.

[northernladuk]

My worse interview experience was actually getting offered a gig at the end of an interview once.

I had 6 weeks left in current gig, they wanted someone in 4 weeks. I agreed to see what I could do but they were ok with 6 weeks. So I went away, told my client I was not renewing and could I finish early. They had to confirm with head office. I kept i touch with agency every week to ensure we're all good.

Two weeks left, client finally agreed to early finish. So I called agency. They called back "ah sorry client didnt want to wait, they gave the gig to someone else"

I was not pleased at this. Had to go back to original client and sheepishly accept another extension....

I'm sure you moaned about this back in the day calling everyone bell end and non of it was your fault.

[NotAllThere]

I read the thread title and thought of this:

Judgin' interviews? You've got to have the Latin to do the judgin.

[LadyPenelope]

Based on this thread, it sounds as though this practice is on the rise. It happened to me in January, for only the second time in my career, so I wasn't expecting it and spent the weekend thinking I may have the job.

And then recruiters go on LI complaining that contractors view them negatively. It's pretty unprofessional not to call and let people know.

[psychocandy]

My worse interview experience was actually getting offered a gig at the end of an interview once.

I had 6 weeks left in current gig, they wanted someone in 4 weeks. I agreed to see what I could do but they were ok with 6 weeks. So I went away, told my client I was not renewing and could I finish early. They had to confirm with head office. I kept i touch with agency every week to ensure we're all good.

Two weeks left, client finally agreed to early finish. So I called agency. They called back "ah sorry client didnt want to wait, they gave the gig to someone else"

I was not pleased at this. Had to go back to original client and sheepishly accept another extension....

[quackhandle]

Ghosting after an interview has always been common, IME. Agents don't have the time or inclination to deal with a person who isn't going to bring in any revenue. I tend to assume I haven't got the gig if I've not heard anything after a week.

Two of my zoom interviews were direct with the end client, hence why I found it odd for them not to tell me either way. As I tell them if I'm not suitable now, then maybe further down the line I can be.

Even when I could see the little green circle (so I can see they are online on LI) they didn't reply.

People are just weird, or maybe that's contracting.

qh

[ladymuck]

Ghosting after an interview has always been common, IME. Agents don't have the time or inclination to deal with a person who isn't going to bring in any revenue. I tend to assume I haven't got the gig if I've not heard anything after a week.

[Fraidycat]

I was completely ghosted by at least %50 of the interviews I attended.

Unless most of your interview are direct, normally it is the agents job to get feedback for you when you are not successful?

And if the interview seemed positive but the outcome was not, its normally because they liked you but liked someone else even more.

[hairymouse]

It seems to me that the new norm is Velcro's experience, where the potential employer/client pretends that you have the role and then ghosts you if you don't. During my last job search, I was completely ghosted by at least %50 of the interviews I attended.

[jayn200]

Ive had a couple amazing interviews where everything clicked and the match was perfect but didn't get the contract and no feedback why. On the other end of it, the worst interview I ever had where the interviewer actually raised their voice at me, was extremely hostile and I failed the technical test I got an offer 1 hour after leaving the interview. You just never know, that's why volume is so important. It's so hard to use a targeted approach. You have no idea who is going to be interested in you and why. You just don't have enough information from their end to know what's going to happen.

[biergarten]

I don't consider myself good at the interview phase, have a ratio 1 in 6 and decreasing.

i am a bit of ambivalent about being informed that i don't get a role, lets me a bit down. and as well while they don't tell me i keep considering it open. lol, helps it me to go through the 'hard' times of the search, thinking i have several open leads

although i had even the case when they told me i didn't get the role. two days later they called me offering the role

[SussexSeagull]

Sometimes you don't connect with the interviewer in an interview and once in a while you have an off day. On other occasions someone is better than you. Always used to be part of the game and you moved on to the next one having been promptly informed by the agent (more commonly than not on the way home).

Problem is now half the time you never find out and get ghosted. By necessity you move on to the net thing but it really isn't a healthy way of operating when agents are too much of a bunch of cowards not to spend a minute sending an e-mail.

[silent bob]

I had a zoom interview right at the start of the first lockdown. Emailed agent for feedback. Nothing. So moved on.
The next week got an email for a quick survey asking about my experience with the agency. Gave them a crap score.
Next thing manager from said agency rings to ask me why i gave them a crap score.
So told them, no feedback, despite asking.
So she investigated and came back to me later.
Apparently I'd passed the interview and was through to the next stage . Go figure that one......