Ask HN: Unclear Rejection from Company | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Unclear Rejection from Company

2 pointsjelan9 comments

I recently applied for a SWE position at a company and completed the first round of interviews. The company had a technical issue the day of my second interview that prevented me from joining the session.

I reached out and told the company about this problem, only to discover that the recruiters I had been talking to had been laid off very recently, but the recruiting coordinator acknowledged the mistake and asked for another time that I would be available for the second round.

I updated my availability, then received a new email from another recruiter saying that I had been rejected and thanks for applying, so I forwarded the last email from the recruiting coordinator and asked what was going on. Later that day they wrote be back and apologized for the mix up and asked if I would still be available on the new dates for the second round.

I’m not sure how I feel about this, part of me wants to acknowledge that people make mistakes and especially after going through a company wide layoff but part of me just wants to stop the process here. I’m not sure if I actually did poorly on the first round and due to a miscommunication they are giving me a second round to save face or if this is truly a mistake. Should I keep interviewing with this company?

Mistakes and miscommunication happens (especially when team members on/off board and handover isn't always what it 'should' be)

That said ... such types of missteps CAN be a bad sign - or not

Keep in mind the issues they've had, and factor that into any final decision you end up making :)

If you have an offer in hand you have some power, you can take it or not. If they want you to work on a take home project for 40 hours that's one thing, but if the interview is reasonable to do you should do it.

exactly - I always try to "assume the best" about others

but sometimes "the best" is actually "pretty bad" :)

Happened to me on my first job. Hiring manager miscommunicated with the HR person. Later on my first day another HR person couldn't find my contract but I had a printed out copy. All was fine, they were just overworked.

I'd say yes, keep going with them.

This kind of flubbing seems annoying when it happens, but it's just that -- not a sign of dishonesty or intentional neglect -- and far from the worst kind of stuff that companies do in hiring process (all too frequently). In fact it may be a simple matter of someone hitting the wrong button.

Plus (as in any social interaction) you gain slightly in traction with the other party when you forgive them for small mistakes like this.

If they drop more balls on the way you might reconsider, though.

IMO, yes. They make mistakes, too, like you said.

If you have something else lined up and you want to go that route then I would do that. Otherwise I would pursue all opportunities until they're not.

Those mistakes aren't a problem, but I don't think joining a company that is actively laying off people is a great idea.

I suspect that the role might have been closed if they’re doing layoffs and they just replied with a generic rejection.

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