I remember when I first started Career Agility International, I was invited at the behest of some Assistant Professor at a local university who was in charge of Career Programs to discuss ideas with her.
When I arrived, she suddenly turned hostile and started challenging every point I made, even describing my career as a ‘car-wreck’.
I politely maintained my cool despite her barrage of insults until I got a tad irritated.
I stood up, told her that she was being rude and unprofessional and declined to continue the discussion.
I calmly walked out of her office.
We have often heard horror stories of Interviewers behaving badly, and even abusive to their candidates. What can you do in such instances, and what would be the right protocol? Let me share some scenarios I’ve been told.
Interview Nightmare #1: The Sneaky Interrogator
Carol (not her real name), a Sales Manager at a Global Consulting Firm, was approached by a Headhunter for a Sales Director role at a competing firm that was their number one rival.
At the interview, the Hiring Manager who was that company’s Senior Sales VP, was really friendly; disarmingly self-deprecating even.
He asked her about her proudest achievement that year (“Tell me more about the biggest deal you’ve most recently closed”), what products in the pipeline she had worked with (“Can you share a recent example where you were involved in the product development of an innovative solution for your client and how you made it a success”) and best of all, how her regional markets were laid out (“Which country is your biggest market and how much did you grow it by last year?”).
It was only after a few of these ‘probing’ questions that she realised that he was indirectly ‘fishing’ for competitive information.
She then proceeded to answer his questions with “I’m not comfortable answering that question” and after a while, the interview ended.
You must always be careful with your information when interviewing, even when speaking to the headhunter. I personally know of unscrupulous companies who engage Executive Search firms not to look for candidates, but instead, to mine data regarding the market size/share by interviewing their target company’s employees. #TrueStory
Interview Nightmare #2: A Preview Of Things To Come
Simon cleared all his interviews and his final one was going to be with his Hiring Manager, the person he would be reporting to. He was a bit nervous as he had heard that this guy was a tough, no-nonsense kind of guy.
He stood at the office door, knocked and said “Good morning!”.
The boss was seated, back to the door, busily typing away at his keyboard.
“Come in.” He curtly replied without even looking up. “Can you wait a while…I need to finish this email.”
“Sure,” Simon said as he plonked himself down on the seat…and waited 15 whole minutes before the Manager even turned around to say hi again.
The questions asked were cursory, and the answers he gave were greeted with either skepticism or a brush-off. It was a very unpleasant interaction.
At the end of the interview, he walked off with a very negative opinion of the Interviewer, and was very surprised when he was offered the job.
“I declined, because I caught a ‘sneak preview’ of how this Manager acts, and I didn’t like it at all – I can’t imagine working for someone like him.”
Remember that a Job Interview is always a 2-way street – as much as they are selecting you, you are also selecting them and you have the power to decline them anywhere along the process the moment you feel something is amiss.
Interview Nightmare #3: The Merry Go Round
“I was told that there would be 7 rounds of interviews at this Global Technology company, and after the 7th one, I was told that they liked me, but I wasn’t quite perfect for the role but referred me to another position.” Jonas shared.
“I waited for 4 weeks before I got another call, and I was put back into the ‘wash cycle’ again but this time, right at the bottom of the funnel. They wanted me to interview with another 7 people. I declined as I didn’t want to get grilled again.”
“Three weeks later, the original Hiring Manager came back to me and said the job offer was mine, but I had to interview with another 3 Managers from the US.”
“It was at this point that I decided not to continue with the company as I felt that this ‘Merry Go Round’ that I experienced was symptomatic of how the corporate culture was and reflected an inability for leaders to make executive decisions.
Sometimes, the process of interviewing itself can offer up clues regarding how the company operates. A convoluted process that is delayed and unclear could indicate blurred lines of responsibility and a climate that is difficult to operate in.
So, if you are interviewing, watch for clues – both seen and unseen.
And if you have any horror stories of your own that you want to share, do let me know by dropping us a message here!