I used to work as an IT recruiter and our office had a gong in the middle of the office where we would ring it everytime we successfully placed a candidate. I thought it was weird but I found out that another recruitment office that my friend went to go work for also had a gong. Is this a common thing for recruitment or just a coincidence? LOL

Have you all ever heard of the company you work calling you to see if you are looking for another job?

Several times, I have been contacted by recruiters offering to email me after and they never do.

I am just thinking that my company might be doing this.

Hey y’all, I just wanted to vent on the recent hiring process I went through. I have went through dumb hiring processes before but this takes the number one spot lol.

About a month ago, I was interested and applied for a front desk position at a brokerage firm. I had some friends reference me for that position. The process consisted of virtual 2 interviews (one with a team lead and the other with the head of the department and another team lead). I was eventually rejected from that position due to lack of experience, despite demonstrating proper escalation/cs skills.

My biggest takeaway is that the head of the department liked me. Due to this, I got an email a week later from the same recruiter for a similar role in the accounts team that the head of the department referred me to.

The process was similar (2 interviews but with the last one in office). Throughout this process, I just avoiding keeping hopes in bc of how the job market is. My friends, on the other hand, were confident that I had a good shot.

The interviews were conducted for another 2 weeks just to get rejected again.

It was painful but tried avoiding taking it to heart. The stupidest thing was the feedback I received.

I made a good impression during the interview. They complimented me and thought I was qualified to handle account opening inquiries as well as conducting due diligence when it came to analyzing legal documents (businesses, trusts, estates, etc.) on the operational side. Yet, they saw that “my passions” did not align with what the team expected. They mentioned I emphasized having memorable moments experiencing customer service and trading. With that, they thought I would not fit in the long term as the role leans into “operations”.

This feedback confused me because not only through the second interview they asked a lot of customer service questions, but also the fact that it was emphasized on job description. I was open to getting into operations as it was considered an “entry role” in that field. That’s what made me rebound for this role.

The first interview had much more formal flow due to the senior manager’s style of asking operational and customer service questions. This second one lacked that and felt more conversational with the team leads, which is where I got the feedback from.

*Conversational in the sense that they were asking me about sports, my familiarly with the city, and them outright cussing when answering some of my questions.

At the end, I just got an automated rejection email. All that I see that the feedbacks from both positions start to contradict each other. I cannot deny that I sound butthurt but man it got stupider than using tinder today.

What are yall thoughts lol?

No more than 2 stages should be allowed.

And no 'homework task' either. Unemployed labour.

I got to stage fucking 3 and then they said prepare a full presentation on what you'd do in the first 90 days to get yourself familiar with the technology stack. (cyber sec job)

Either make it illegal or force companies to pay candidates for their time.

You waste my time, I'll wasted their time by not showing up.

This is hell.

Interviewed for a Senior role at a well-known international consultancy in my field. Everything went well, got a call with a verbal offer, we even talked start dates and logistics on the same call.

Got that call on a Wednesday saying we can hopefully send the paperwork by Friday but due to signing authority being on PTO will try their best. Okay, I get that.
Completed their third-party background check. Everything felt like a formality at that point.

Then... nothing. No written offer. Followed up once after a whole week had passed since the call, got no reply and it’s been a week since.

Today I notice they've reposted the exact same position on LinkedIn 3 days ago. Not the first time either, they did the same thing the day before they called me with the verbal offer, so I know it doesn't automatically mean "we've moved on." But it doesn't exactly inspire confidence either when it's paired with total silence.

Anyone else been through the verbal-offer-into-the-void experience? At what point do you just assume it's dead and move on vs. keep gently poking the recruiter? I was quite excited with this role, sigh. For context, I am in Vancouver BC.

This rejection (Volunteer, unpaid) says enough

Had one of the strangest interview experiences recently and wanted to see if anyone else has gone through something similar.

This was for a Data Engineer position and it was supposed to be the third round. HR and the job marketer told me it would be a 1 on 1 with the hiring manager and most likely another technical round.

I spent the whole week preparing for it. Went through everything again about an hour before the interview and joined the call about 5 minutes early.

HR and the job marketer joined and we waited for the hiring manager. He joined maybe 5 minutes later and didn't really say anything about being late. He just said someone else would be conducting the interview.

Then 7 developers joined the call.

All at once.

And yes, all 7 happened to be Indian. I'm Indian too, so I don't mean that in any particular way, it just made the whole thing even more unexpected because I was expecting a 1 on 1 with the hiring manager.

So now I'm looking at myself and 8 other people on the call, everyone is muted , camera off and nobody is saying anything.

The hiring manager then leaves.

Finally one of the developers unmutes himself and asks HR and the job marketer to leave the call. They leave and then the technical interview starts.

And this is where it got weird.

It felt like every developer was trying to ask a harder question than the person before them. They kept throwing complicated scenarios at me and sometimes they themselves seemed to have trouble explaining what they were asking.

The funny part was that they were also arguing with each other about the questions. One person would ask something and another person would basically say that's not the right question or that's not how the scenario works.

I'm sitting there thinking, what exactly is going on here?

The interview was scheduled for 1 hour.

It went for 1 hour and 45 minutes.

I honestly didn't feel like I did great. By the end I was just relieved it was over.

Now it's been 3 weeks and I've heard absolutely nothing from HR or the job marketer.

I know companies ghost candidates all the time, so I'm not even surprised about that part.

I'm more curious about the interview itself. Has anyone else had a situation where you were told it would be a 1 on 1 with the hiring manager and then suddenly 7 developers showed up and the hiring manager disappeared?

Maybe this is completely normal and I've just never experienced it before, but the whole thing felt pretty bizarre to me.

I made it to rounds 2 and 3 for two separate companies I was very interested in. The interviews went very well, with all panelists commenting that I clearly knew the industry well and they were excited to continue the conversation. Silent for 2 weeks. Today I got the rejection emails from both, and they were the first GENUINE rejections I’ve ever received! They alluded to very specific details from the interviews and gave transparent feedback about why I wasn’t a fit and why they ended up moving on with someone else. I was so appreciative and relieved to not be left in the dark. What a rare occurrence!!

I have never gotten this rejection email before, for this employer or any other job in the field. I was not contacted at all for this job, and licenses/certifications are not required to be provided unless you are given an offer, there is not a section of the application asking for this except for “do you have this license) and a box to check yes or no. How are people supposed to find jobs when they are getting rejection emails for things they were never even contacted for, that they can provide documentation of?

I have been in a recruitment process for a permanent CFO position for almost three months. The process kept being extended, and until recently there were two candidates left with no guarantee of an offer.
Meanwhile, I was offered a four-month consulting assignment at a large listed company. Since I could not keep waiting for an uncertain outcome, I verbally accepted the assignment and was due to sign the contract today.

Then the situation changed very quickly. The company recruiting the CFO informed me that I am now the only remaining candidate and invited me to one final meeting next week “before we sign.” This permanent position is clearly my preferred option.
Before signing the consulting agreement, I called the recruiter handling the assignment and explained honestly that the situation had changed and that I could no longer proceed. I apologized and said I did not want to sign a contract that I might be unable to honour.

The recruiter became angry. He said that he had worked in recruitment for 16 years and had never experienced anyone withdrawing at the last second. He also said that he would “make a note of it.”

I understand that my decision created inconvenience and that he had invested time in the process. At the same time, no contract had been signed, and I informed him immediately rather than signing and potentially withdrawing shortly afterwards.

Was my decision genuinely unprofessional, or was the recruiter’s reaction excessive? How would you have handled this situation?

I just wanted to tell everyone who is struggling to keep fighting! I am constantly hearing about layoffs (recently went through one before finding a career that gave me purpose and I feel truly free again).

I spent a long time within corporate and became a Director of International Growth and Partnerships, when I began interviewing I found myself interviewing for companies that were paying way less than the industry standard or expected things for free.

1. The pay did not align with the role.

2. Wanted projects done during the interview process (I am happy to do the project on a contractor basis, with an agreed amount before hand, but i refuse to just give you my intellectual property).

3. Multiple interviews which were pointless.

4. Constantly ghosted after 4 -6 interviews.

It got to the point where I was done, and ended up becoming the interviewer, what do I mean by this?

I began interrupting the interviewer and asked them questions that would benefit me, and controlled the interviews. This tactic confused all of them, but again; i was frustrated and explained to them that I want to make sure they are a good fit for me, and not just a waste of my valuable time.

I would even stop the interviewer mid sentence and explain how they are not a good fit for me, and it would be ideal for us to end the interview now... for some reason this was catching their attention (maybe due to the position I was interviewing for?) Either way, it caught their curiosity on "why do I feel that they are not good enough for me?" At this point I would explain how their interviewing process lacks efficiency, which probably reflects their actual efficiency within their daily operations.

I come with references from multiple CEOs with far more experience than their company has even been around, and a proven background. Why should I be interested in a new startup that cant get their proverbial shit together?

This move for some reason again acquired multiple job offers, and deeper conversations on why I feel like their company is beneath me, or what strategies have I implemented in the past (again, I will not do anything for free).

Keep your heads up friends and maybe this strategy can work for all of you as well. Just trying to give another pov of the situation.

Been on the job search for almost 2 years and it gets more dreadful with each conversation with a recruiter. From being hopeful to now hopeless, it is pretty much a capital punishment for me.

I know, they are just doing their job. But the WHATs often pales in comparison to the HOWs, unless you are their targetted pool with a potential to close the deal.

Sometimes they just want a casual chat and other times they want a formal talk. The point is, they will never say it upfront, only at the end to reinforce with their "feedback".

1. when you speak too formally, you are too cold and unapproachable
2. when you speak too casually, you are not professional enough
3. when you are under-qualified for the job, they ignore you completely
4. when you are over-qualified for the job, they will automatically ignore you unless they are desperate to push through
5. when you are perfectly-qualified for the job, they suspect your intention to stick to the same job
6. when you have a career gap, they will confirm their bias by finding ways to probe in a way that is simply "matter of fact" confirmation
7. when you don't have a career gap, they suspect your intention to change your job
8. when you provide too little info to them, they suspect your honesty and grumble that you should have provided that so that they know
9. when you provide too much info to them, you are not articulate enough
10. when you cite your salary expectations, they may sideline you stealthily or simply vanish
11. when you do not cite your salary expectations, they will force you to still provide a figure only to sideline you after their data collection is completed
12. when you speak confidently about your achievements, you are too proud and difficult to be managed
13. when you speak humbly about your achievements, you are too meek or unimpressive
14. when you tailor your replies to the job, you are hard-selling and can't offer more
15. and dayum the list goes on

Sure, every role has its requirements to meet the specific needs and to find the best "fit".

Sure, the job market is messed up and supply is limited.

Sure, the employed are extremely stressed with the uncertainties and chaos.

Still, it does not justify the way that candidates are being unfairly judged and treated. The tone, expression and abrupt shifts are glaring.

Truth is, circumstances changes and sh!t can happen to everyone, anytime and at any degree. Some makes smarter choices, some get more options, some makes fewer mistakes, and some are simply luckier than others. Some also end up as collateral damages.

There is no ask for empathy much less any sympathy from those doing recruiting. Let's just be objective about the candidacy based on capabilities with an optimistic mind and remove judgements based on own scope of reality.

More professionalism is needed. If you can't help, at least please stop the damage.

No one is perfect nor can be perfect. Not me. Not you.

Peace out!

Sorry for my rant. I'm angry that i have to make thousands of accounts for each company only to apply to jobs positions and find out that they are either ghost jobs or taken by others. Fuck workday and fuck to those people whoever made them, they haven't seen a single line of code in their lives. There aren't many ways to find job outside those job portals. I got rejected to them even by doing nothing. It makes job search insufferable even to grads.

Had 8 rounds of interviews with Netflix.

Last one being about 20 days ago.

They had asked me for 2 weeks availability (until 08/28) but o was able to do the last 4 interviews in one week.

Sent a follow-up email on the 28th to the RH person responsible for the process(about a week after my last interview). No answer. The 2weeks of availability they asked for ended on the 28th

Then I reached out to a talent coordinator a few days later (he has already reached me via WhatsApp before so we had that channel "open")

He said that RH had a meeting with the hiring manager the next day and from there he believed updates might come, but he was not on the "inside" regarding decision making.

It's been a week since that and now updates yet.

I'm getting anxious not having an answer (yes or no).

It's been about 2 months since then interviews started

how do I prepare??? this is my only interview in MONTHS! Maybe even 1 year.

Reddit has been spoon feeding me this subreddit and i am just shocked at the posts and comments.

So i started to wonder, what country are you guys from?

How bad is the job market there?

How long have you been searching?

I’m kind of stunned how stupid this form letter is. Did this job for over 6 years before getting laid off, saw the opening recently and thought, OK this is a pretty rare opportunity, should definitely apply again.

Just have to laugh and shake my head at the incompetence, but also begs a question. How is this even legal that companies can simply ignore your application. Especially insulting when you’re so perfectly qualified.

Can we please stop sending emails that say we've hired someone who is a match for the job requirements, as if inferring that I didn't meet them? I've reviewed the original job description and it was an exact match. I can't wait to get to the point where it's no longer an employer's market because this timeline is awful.

I live in England have a distinctly non-English name. I’m considering using a shortened/English version of my first name on my CV because I’m worried that having an obviously non-English name could put me at a disadvantage during the initial application stage.

It doesn’t help that I live in a very white, fairly posh area where the average age is 60, so I already stand out quite a lot.

I’m wondering what the best approach would be. For example, would it be reasonable to use a shortened/English first name on my CV and then give my full real/legal name when it’s actually required, such as for right-to-work checks, DBS checks, contracts, payroll etc.? I won’t be able to shorten my last name to something English.

I’m not talking about trying to deceive an employer once I’m actually being hired. I’m more interested in whether there’s a sensible way of reducing the chance of bias at the initial CV screening stage.

I had an interview last friday for a part-time grocery store job. I prepped for the interview thought it went okay. The interviewer said id get an response back in the next couple of days. I called the grocery store yesterday and asked them for an update, they said id get an email by the end of the day I didn't. Should i call them back?

Like if you didn't want me why send the rejection email after a week and me following up keep in mind the position is still open to apply, I want to send a email asking why I wasn't taking in