Should Employers Pay to Interview You?

[valo403]

Originally Posted by Minnie

You want a long interview process before even getting a conditional offer? I began the application and interviewing process for a clerk position at the American Consulate a few years ago - the end of January. I didn't get the conditional offer until May, and the position wouldn't have even started until the fall. Granted, that process is more on the extreme side too but holy balls, what a rigamarole it was.

Umm yeah, a job at a Consulate is going to take a long time. That's sort of a given.

[mykalberta]

Why would any employee wait on a job offer unless it was their number 1 choice?

Keep going for interviews, it doesnt hurt and there is nothing dishonest about it, there is nothing to say you can only interview at one place at a time.

[Wormius]

It's not so much not getting back to you, but if I ask for a reason why I wasn't offered a job, after going in for 2 or 3 interviews at a company, I would like to know why and not be brushed off. I don't care if you think it will hurt my feelings and make it awkward, I think the company at least owes you that much. Like, just say why - did you see something on Google? Did a reference say something weird? Was there a question that I didn't answer satisfactorily enough? Were my teeth not the brightest shade of white?

[The Yen Man]

Originally Posted by Wormius

It's not so much not getting back to you, but if I ask for a reason why I wasn't offered a job, after going in for 2 or 3 interviews at a company, I would like to know why and not be brushed off. I don't care if you think it will hurt my feelings and make it awkward, I think the company at least owes you that much. Like, just say why - did you see something on Google? Did a reference say something weird? Was there a question that I didn't answer satisfactorily enough? Were my teeth not the brightest shade of white?

Yah, I know I always appreciated it if a company was just honest with me. So I try to be honest with all the candidates. One person, I just straight told him, looking at his past experience, I didn't choose him because I think he'll leave and go to Oil and Gas the first opportunity he gets. Was it fair to judge him like that? Debatable, but that's how I honestly felt. And since both candidates were equally qualified, I chose the one who I thought was less of a flight risk. The guy seemed kind of choked I told him that, but that's the breaks I guess. At least I didn't dick him around.

[valo403]

Originally Posted by Wormius

It's not so much not getting back to you, but if I ask for a reason why I wasn't offered a job, after going in for 2 or 3 interviews at a company, I would like to know why and not be brushed off. I don't care if you think it will hurt my feelings and make it awkward, I think the company at least owes you that much. Like, just say why - did you see something on Google? Did a reference say something weird? Was there a question that I didn't answer satisfactorily enough? Were my teeth not the brightest shade of white?

Why? They went with someone else who they felt was better suited, why do they owe you anything beyond that?

[NuclearPizzaMan]

Well, you would have to pay me to volunteer to speak to an HR "Professional"... Seriously, is every job a Profession these days? I thought that had meaning.

[CaptainCrunch]

Me - "Yeah so I get that i didn't get the job, but I just wanted to get some feed back so I can improve myself."

Female HR Manager - "Well you're smart and educated and devastatingly handsome, we were worried that you'd totally roger all the girls in the company and maternity leave is a big expense for us, so we had to go with someone genetically inferior to you"

Me - "Ah yes I completely understand, I can totally dressdown,grease up my hair and grow a pornstache to help balance off my incredible abilities to attract females"

Her - "You could do that tomorrow, now why don't you just march that butt over here so I can take some d$$$$$$$n"

Me - "Sweet, but are you paying me for this interview?"

Her - "Let me get my cheque book"

Me - "Can you make it out to cash, that's my nickname"

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by valo403

Why? They went with someone else who they felt was better suited, why do they owe you anything beyond that?

Why? I think an explanation is the least they owe to someone who takes time out of their day to travel to someone's office for an interview. If you didn't get the job, and the interviewer doesn't offer any constructive feedback of why they didn't hire you, then it was just a waste of time from the interviewee's perspective and doesn't really help in the interviewee's future job search either.

Like other's have said, if I am in the position to use or recommend a product of a company that I have interviewed with in the past. that brushed me off after the interview, I won't hesitate to be petty about it.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Wormius

Why? I think an explanation is the least they owe to someone who takes time out of their day to travel to someone's office for an interview. If you didn't get the job, and the interviewer doesn't offer any constructive feedback of why they didn't hire you, then it was just a waste of time from the interviewee's perspective and doesn't really help in the interviewee's future job search either.

Like other's have said, if I am in the position to use or recommend a product of a company that I have interviewed with in the past. that brushed me off after the interview, I won't hesitate to be petty about it.

with the sue happy, human rights tribunal filing crowd its unlikely that you'll ever get an explanation as there is the possibility that it offends you.

The most you'll ever get is we found someone that was a better fit.

Its the same reason that references are worthless now.

[valo403]

Originally Posted by Wormius

Why? I think an explanation is the least they owe to someone who takes time out of their day to travel to someone's office for an interview. If you didn't get the job, and the interviewer doesn't offer any constructive feedback of why they didn't hire you, then it was just a waste of time from the interviewee's perspective and doesn't really help in the interviewee's future job search either.

Like other's have said, if I am in the position to use or recommend a product of a company that I have interviewed with in the past. that brushed me off after the interview, I won't hesitate to be petty about it.

I'd say that's a fairly selfish way to frame it. You took time out of your day to interview for a job, not to do someone a favor. The interviewer took time out of their day to give you an opportunity to obtain a job that you presumably would like to have. That's pretty much the sum of the transaction right there, nobody owes anyone anything beyond that.

Sure it would be nice to get some constructive feedback, but you aren't owed that. If you want constructive feedback on your resume, interview skills or general job search there are people who provide that service. The whole idea that you are ever 'owed' something simply because you interviewed for a job is ridiculous. You're the one doing the asking here, not the employer. You should be treated respectfully, but beyond that you should be taking care of yourself, not relying on them to help you out.

[TorqueDog]

lolwut. The employer doesn't owe me for my time spent interviewing any more than I owe the employer rent for using their interview room and staff to take the time to interview me. valo403 hit the nail on the head; the interview process is the sum of the transaction, period. It'd be like saying that you owe a car salesperson money because you didn't end up buying the car they took the time to show you. A job interview is really just sales.

On the subject of employer courtesy when communicating with prospective employees, my last two experiences with employers was pretty stellar. Both Long View Systems and Microsoft were kick-ass when it came to their interview process. Open communication between me and the HR recruiter and - when I had questions - responses were forthcoming in short order.

Only really negative interview courtesy experiences I've had have been with companies that - in hindsight - I'm glad I didn't end up working for. One company who expressed a huge interest in me decided to wait nearly a month between my last interview and a follow up to schedule my next interview - I didn't even think they were interested anymore.

[Wormius]

I don't think it is at all. It's a very unbalanced situation. One person is getting paid for their time, while the other is not.

I think after you have gone through more than 2 interviews with a company, there is "obviously" nothing wrong with a person's cover letter, resume, or first interview. It is extremely useful to get feedback from the prospective employer because in this situation, there is nothing glaringly out of whack.

That said, I understand your position, but I am just saying there is definitely a lack of respect shown by companies in these situations. It takes all of 5 or 10 minutes to summarize why you didn't go with one person over another. And I wouldn't even say it's necessary if you only had was a phone interview, but for a series of sit down interviews, it should be common practice.

[Ruttiger]

What a goofy notion. Sense of entitlement run amok.

[valo403]

Originally Posted by Wormius

I don't think it is at all. It's a very unbalanced situation. One person is getting paid for their time, while the other is not.

I think after you have gone through more than 2 interviews with a company, there is "obviously" nothing wrong with a person's cover letter, resume, or first interview. It is extremely useful to get feedback from the prospective employer because in this situation, there is nothing glaringly out of whack.

That said, I understand your position, but I am just saying there is definitely a lack of respect shown by companies in these situations. It takes all of 5 or 10 minutes to summarize why you didn't go with one person over another. And I wouldn't even say it's necessary if you only had was a phone interview, but for a series of sit down interviews, it should be common practice.

Which is why you aren't owed a thing. You are asking them to pay you. They are offering you the opportunity to be hired. If you don't want to go through the process of hiring stay home.

Unless you are applying at a company that does career counseling they are taking time out of what they do that generates revenue to seek candidates for a job. They will hire whoever they feel is the best candidate. Asking them to sit you down and give you a little coaching session is completely unreasonable. You haven't earned that, and it certainly isn't owed. As the poster above said, it's sense of entitlement run amok.

[Rathji]

After thinking about this, I can't even imagine what kind of terror it would be to run interviews for a job if you were paying even $20 for people to come in.

Imagine having to sit through interviews with 20 homeless people in an afternoon.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by valo403

Which is why you aren't owed a thing. You are asking them to pay you. They are offering you the opportunity to be hired. If you don't want to go through the process of hiring stay home.

Unless you are applying at a company that does career counseling they are taking time out of what they do that generates revenue to seek candidates for a job. They will hire whoever they feel is the best candidate. Asking them to sit you down and give you a little coaching session is completely unreasonable. You haven't earned that, and it certainly isn't owed. As the poster above said, it's sense of entitlement run amok.

I think you're misunderstanding or exaggerating. I am not suggesting they take hours out of their work day to tell a single interviewee what went wrong. Take 5 minutes and write an email saying "we wanted more in this area of expertise, or you smelled weird, or whatever". I never said or hinted that they should bring you back in for career guidance.

Say you asked a friend to take care of your pet while you were away, and they said they would, and the pet subsequently died because of their poor care, would it be similarly fair for them to say they were just doing you a favour, and you should just be happy for what you got?

[TorqueDog]

^How is that even a relevant comparison?

Originally Posted by Rathji

After thinking about this, I can't even imagine what kind of terror it would be to run interviews for a job if you were paying even $20 for people to come in.

Imagine having to sit through interviews with 20 homeless people in an afternoon.

Eh?

It's not like you can just walk into a place and say "I want an interview".

"We're not hiring you."
"Okay, where's my twenty bucks?"

[valo403]

Originally Posted by Wormius

I think you're misunderstanding or exaggerating. I am not suggesting they take hours out of their work day to tell a single interviewee what went wrong. Take 5 minutes and write an email saying "we wanted more in this area of expertise, or you smelled weird, or whatever". I never said or hinted that they should bring you back in for career guidance.

Say you asked a friend to take care of your pet while you were away, and they said they would, and the pet subsequently died because of their poor care, would it be similarly fair for them to say they were just doing you a favour, and you should just be happy for what you got?

5 minutes adds up. If I took 5 minutes to write a helpful email to everyone I interviewed during the last hiring season I'd have spent at least 2 hours writing emails. And asking people to tell you what you did or didn't do that lead to you not being chosen is asking for career guidance, I'm not sure how you can call it anything but.

I have no idea what relevance your example has on this. Prospective employers are not your friends and they are not doing you a favor. That example makes no sense.

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

^How is that even a relevant comparison? Eh?

It's not like you can just walk into a place and say "I want an interview".

"We're not hiring you."
"Okay, where's my twenty bucks?"

Anyone can apply for a job, and if they lie on the resume, how would you know?

I guess it would be pretty obvious is a homeless guy showed up for the interview though.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

^How is that even a relevant comparison? Eh?

Because there was the sentiment that the interviewee shouldn't expect anything in return because they didn't pay the company to interview them, and they should just be happy to have had the opportunity to be interviewed in the first place.

Similarly, any kind of care you got for your pet, because it was free, you should just be grateful for.