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Just had this fucking crap experience from a job interview process.

I'm more annoyed by the practices than by not getting the role but I can see why this rant
might appear to be me throwing sour grapes all over the place...
Just wanted to get this off my chest either way.

I take a call from a recruiter that I'm not overly fond of, we have had history before. The only reason I do is because of a referral from an ex-colleague that I like and trust.
In retrospect - probably shouldn't have done so.

Anyway - get sent for a role, standard really, you get sent a job description over by a recruiter, you say yes or no to being put forward, they send your details to the company who then hopefully say "OK, they look promising, send them in for an interview" and you dust off your iron, button up your big girl blazer and go in to meet them.

First round - I happened to have annual leave booked that day so was able and happy to make any time, I met the first guy - he was fine, had a good conversation with him and felt it went well. I liked the way they say they worked, their environmental credentials and what I was told about the company culture. Left feeling confident and spent the rest of my day in a riverside pub with my GF. By the end of the day I'd been asked back in for a second interview.

I don't take time off this time, I go in early in the morning on a day I was working from home so as to not interfere with my working hours too much. The people I meet are nice enough at first, two heads of department - one I would be reporting to most of the time should I get the role.

Within 10 mins of us sitting down at the meeting room table, someone else had come along and booted us out of the room as they hadn't checked whether it was booked and it was needed for a client meeting. The only other room available is a glorified storage cupboard with more random crap than your mum's spare room where I'm grilled about my experience (specifically lack of pitching and sales experience) and had the comment that they "would have expected this sort of experience from an account manager". I told them that I wasn't applying for an account manager role - that I wouldn't allow a recruiter to put me forward for that sort of role because sales is just not part of my skill set or the most recent or valid part of my work experience.

I was then asked specific industry questions and every name I dropped was slammed because they were "not suppliers they would use". "OK well" I say "everyone has their preferences and these are mine currently, it doesn't mean that I won't use others. It's just that I have good, long standing relationships with these particular ones that benefit my current role by using them" I felt this to be a perfectly reasonable response.

They then (inappropriately in my opinion) questioned me about my clothes - I had gone in in formal wear which is how I've always been advised to turn up, "do you have any stylish casual clothes?" I'm asked, feeling like a paramecium being analysed under a microscope by the cast of Gossip Girl (both of them were fairly casually dressed - one was even wearing a crop top, just to clarify, the first guy I met was just wearing jeans and a button down shirt) "It's just that our clients would expect a style of dress that's less corporate". I assured them that I had only gone under the spare bed in my flat to retrieve the ironing board and brushed off the spiders for this interview and that I did, in fact, have other clothes.

After a few more questions - I get the obligatory "it was really nice to meet you" talk and the walk to the door asking about my plans for the rest of the day - pretty standard. I thanked them for inviting me in, shook hands and left but was confused, a little disillusioned and felt a little attacked so I called the recruiter. I asked directly if the role had changed to her knowledge and told her what had been said. She was unaware of any changes and said she would contact them for feedback.

I called my GF as I was headed back and was a little deflated - I was not at all convinced that I was actually what they wanted and went home to start work and prepare for the inevitable "thanks for coming in but we're going with someone else" call.

To my surprise I get a call back within an hour stating that although they felt I wasn't right for the role I'd been sent for that they would love to have me interview for another role.

Despite everyone telling me that this was a positive sign, it wasn't a role I had much experience with and accepted the interview providing I was given ample time to review the job spec and prepare as it is something I've done a course in with a mind to being able to get into eventually but is not a role I have held commercially as yet.

The description turns up after almost a week - a full day and a half before I'm due to go back in and I immediately express my concerns that it was almost identical to the one I had for the last role. The recruiter looks at it, confirms I'm right and goes back to them. No further information is sent so she advises me to do as much research about the generalised nature of that job title as I can and just to make the majority of my questions about the role.

By the time I walk in there (after work this time) I'm not feeling good about it but I'm already invested in going, it would be rude to be a no show given what I've been told about this being a company apparently really keen on me and I don't shy away from a challenge so I go.

The feedback received on this occasion is that I was "unprepared", that I was "unaware of the nuances and complexities of the role" and that I "asked too many questions about the job and not enough about anything else". I'd had to, most of it hadn't been covered in the abysmal documentation I had received despite requests for more details and I was sure to balance the role based enquiries I made with further questions about the company, their projects and their way of working. Bearing in mind of course that I had already been in twice, I didn't want to keep asking the same questions over and over. I did repeat myself on a couple, just to demonstrate that I was showing an interest.

My feedback to them through the recruiter has been that they could and should have just given me the "we enjoyed meeting you but didn't feel you were quite right fit, can we keep your details on file for if anything else comes up, we'd love to see you again" IE the standard polite brush off rather than sending me for a role that they must have been aware that I wasn't going to get based on the fact that they'd met me twice already.
They wasted my time, insulted me and didn't sell either of the roles to me - it's not all about the company judging whether the candidate is right, the candidate also needs to feel as if the role and company are right for them.

The way I see it, unless the role you are going for carries immense company responsibility - Directors, Heads of Departments, CFOs, Controllers etc or is very specialised, no interview for an entry level - mid management role should be more than a video call and a face - to - face interview. All these multiple rounds, some with tests and in one instance for me, setting up a data sheet in excel to present dashboard data - a role I was ghosted for after this 3rd interview (as it's been more than a decade I'm sure I didn't get the job - unless they're still waiting for me to turn up on my first day - oops) are unfair on the candidates and show a flagrant disregard for their time given that they'll probably be overworked and paid like shit anyway.

In any case - this is my rant.

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anonymous Work September 15, 2025 at 8:46 am 0 0