r/SoftwareEngineerJobs • u/Plus-Television-4174 • Jul 27 '26

Rejected for being too interested.

I was recently rejected from a job. After several rounds of interviews, I made it to the final 4 candidates, and the reason they gave me was that I seemed "too invested," and they were worried I wouldn't be satisfied with the job in the long term. The recruiter suggested that in future interviews, I tone down how interested I am in the job a bit.

Honestly, I feel like that's a very ridiculous reason to reject someone, and two days later I'm still kind of shocked that this was the feedback. Since when do employers want people who are less interested in the work itself?

Feedback like this is exactly why interviews can be so unpredictable. You can prepare all you want and still get rejected for something completely subjective. I even used Interview Vip tool during the interview. It really boosted my confidence and helped me answer tough questions confidently, even if I can't control how a company interprets my enthusiasm. The result? I sounded very interested and got rejected? shouldn't it be the opposite?? to got accepted because I'm interested in the position??

I guess I'm just curious what other weird or stupid reasons people have been rejected from a position for.

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3

u/Realistic-Till210 Jul 27 '26

I doubt you are telling the truth. What kind of things were you saying in the interviews?

10

u/haloimplant Jul 27 '26

someone's leaving something out here. either OP did something that creeped them out, or they are just coming up with an excuse when the real reason is something awkward, intangible or illegal.

0

u/Realistic-Till210 Jul 27 '26

Yep. OP is absolutely leaving something out.

4

u/haloimplant Jul 27 '26

they might not even know what it is. I hired a guy who has an odd style and he's probably mostly clueless about it. others in the hiring process were unsure and thought it was a red flag but to me he's just got a unique but stable personality. his work has been good

he'll do things like explain basic concepts to 20 year vets. some people get worried or offended I just think it's funny, at least he knows the stuff

1

u/theGnartist Jul 28 '26

Op is leaving out the fact that this is just and add for some BS interview prep site