The Worst Possible Way to Be Rejected for a Job, This Could Have Been an Email | Hacker News Reader

The Worst Possible Way to Be Rejected for a Job, This Could Have Been an Email

slate.com

14 pointstekdude7 comments

Rejecting near hires by phone or video is much better than an email. At that point you’ve likely developed something of a real connection with the recruiter, hiring manager, and/or the team overall. I’ve had final interviews or fit calls feel more like onboarding or pitching me on the role and then get rejected. A chance to hear it in person and have a bit of closure with the other side makes it much easier to process in my experience.

It would be nice, however, to give at least a hint that there could be bad news coming to help with mental prep. If you’re thinking this could be a rejection or maybe discussing further interviews or something negative, you’re more prepared for the turn in fortune.

That sounds bad but still it's a response. Ghosting is what I hate most.

I once had two two hour meetings with a body leasing company that were mostly bragging about their great feedback culture. They ghosted me instantly after finding someone else.

Once I took a Monday off, to go to deal signing with small onboarding and meet-the-team. I came early and watched this one guy for an hour, making tea, preparing for work. My co tacr didn't respond on phone. Finally the guy that walked by me all the time came, asked me to the room (he knew exactly who I was), and told me there is no job any more.

They knew since Thursday. Rejected an offer from a friend on the weekend.

Has the world gone soft or something because what is the problem with this? None of the explanations in this article makes sense except that the company apparently made the correct decision because they avoided a candidate who could not handle rejection and disappointment in a professional manner and learn from that disappointment. Employees and candidate employees complain that they're treated like cogs in a machine and want to be more humanized. When they try to humanize someone you get an article like this.

Because these weren't about rejecting candidates in an embarrassing way after a resume had been submitted or a first round interview and laughing at them that they lacked the required skills. This is the complete opposite of that. This is specifically about rejecting final round candidates in a very personal manner. Any professional person who gets to a final round of interviews and is up for the final selection process should want either a phone call or a video call to discuss why they're not getting the opportunity. This allows you to demonstrate your poise and your character for handling disappointing news which comes as a regular course in any job. Also it allows you to interview the hiring manager to get more specific details about what you could have done better because you made it to the end and so it literally comes down to very minor things picking between you and another candidate. You can find out if it's culture fit you can find out if it's some technical expertise. Knowing what those Minor details are that cause you to lose out in a final round allows you to improve your life and your chances at a job in the future.

Handling disappointment with poise and character is a basic life skill that everyone should have learned by their teenage years. It is extremely disappointing that I'm even reading an article like this that people have not been taught the most simple of social skills which is handling disappointment.

Alternative take, scheduling a rejection meeting without providing any indication about the meeting agenda creates an unrejectable obligation without any consideration for the candidate.

> Has the world gone soft or something because what is the problem with this?

Yet the reason why rejections are scheduled on Zoom is because they are seen as softer than an email. Most of your comment even pleads that this is the case. It's just so personal. And hey, you get to show them one last time how well you handle adversity with poise and character. How amazing is that!

I prefer an email not because rejection is hard, but because I can handle a hard rejection. I want the bandage ripped off so I can move on to other opportunities, not have to schedule a Zoom call for Monday at 9am that I cannot decline just for someone to tell me I didn't get the job.

It seems like you ran out of positive things to say about it yourself because twice you suggested that being able to respond to a Zoom rejection with "Ah, okay, well thanks for the opportunity" is some huge character reveal that's going to have an impact on your career or the company who rejected you. It's not.

The idea of having a meeting about a rejection is not just gracefully saying okay thanks it's actually about you are now given an opportunity to interview the hiring manager. You can ask questions about what you did well and what you did poorly and improve your chances in the future. This is a massive opportunity for a job seeker that is hard to get any other way. Also keep in mind that these rejections that are done face to face are done that way because the candidate was in the final interview stages which means that they've passed all of the technical qualifications most of the culture fit qualifications and it comes down to really small details that can make or break a decision. Knowing those details helps you improve for the future because if you just okay thanks and hang up and move on you're likely to make the same mistakes at the next company when you get that far.

Also, this is just complete speculation, but considering that companies are having a really hard time to find talent and not just technical talent but culture fit talent this could be an interesting interview technique. Because how you handle rejection and disappointment is it a very important factor when fitting in with a company. Because when you were at the final stage of an interview that company will keep you in mind for future positions because you've passed all the other tests. So it wouldn't shock me that some companies would consider doing this and seeing how the rejection is handled see if they get questions back see if they can maintain a dialogue and then ask you if it's okay to keep you in mind for future positions because you know they have regular hirings every few weeks. Depending on the candidates response it could be they come back and they're actually prepared to offer them a job in a week or two.

Because we underestimate in current culture the ability to handle disappointment and rejection in a way that allows you to retain your poise and demeanor throughout it. Every aspect of your life rejection is a thing you will have to deal with and it companies rejection can be especially disappointing with talented people because they invest a lot of themselves in what a project they're working on. If you can't handle having a constructive discussion when you're restricted for a job how will you handle having a constructive discussion when you've spent 6 months on some new innovative feature you've invested a lot of time into and management decides to kill it off because they want to go in another direction. That's a very real thing and I've seen people handle it gracefully and I've seen people totally lose their shit over it. Guess which one I want to work with and bolsters the team?

Let me translate: You were the wrong color, and when the hiring manager saw that, you did not get the job

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