I went through 5 rounds of interviews for an in-house position and received an email from the recruiter asking to speak with me. I was super excited thinking I was going to get an offer only to have received a rejection that could’ve been done via email. I appreciate that she made the effort to call but it also made the rejection that much more painful because I was fully expecting an offer, plus I had to block off time in my schedule and wait for her to call.
At least you received a follow up. You could’ve received nothing.
Can we talk about why on earth it is necessary to have five rounds of interviews for anything short of C-suite?
I had to do five rounds of interviews once for a lowly corporate counsel role (I was the lowest YOE, lowest paid attorney on the 10 person team). I don’t understand this approach when 4 of those interviews were basically just chatting. One of the five had a fake negotiation and substantive questions about my understanding of the regulations in our area. Surely that one interview was worth all four others combined. My experience otherwise has been 2-3 interviews but rarely substantive questions that I would ask if I were doing the hiring.
Personally I prefer the phone call because it gives a chance to ask what I could have done better in the interviews
Yes, I would have been less hurt if they had just sent me an email or hadn’t bothered to reach out at all, in which case I would’ve just moved on or forgotten about it. In asking for a call with me, which is not common at all for a rejection, she got my hopes up and the rejection was that much more painful over the phone when I was fully expecting the opposite outcome. Also, not taking it out on the recruiter at all- she was perfectly wonderful and kind- and I am over it. I am more curious as to others’ thoughts on this practice. Personally, would’ve preferred the email letting me know I was rejected first and then asking me if I’d like a call to discuss.
Sounds like this is your quirk. Recruiter is just trying to be polite
Yeah but it’s also an indicator that the recruiter sees you as a good candidate and wants to continue the relationship. You can also speak up and say you prefer emails for rejections. I don’t understand what the issue is.
I think the recruiter should have sent an email rejection that included an offer to chat further. (“I am available for a call today if you have questions.”)
Conversation Starter
This happened to me a while back and I actually missed the recruiter’s call (so not quite the same thing bc she didn’t set it up with me in advance) because I was in a meeting. But what she said in the VM was basically that everyone had liked me and she asked if I had any interest in other positions. I didn’t at that time, but I just applied again. Maybe this call is a good sign and an indication that they’d consider you for other roles?
I received a similar call and also thought it was unnecessary. A rejection email would suffice.
Great in theory but in reality it sucks because it isn’t standard practice so you don’t think it’s a rejection.
Conversation Starter
Of course it’s probably not the news you want to hear but at least they have the courtesy to share the news directly and answer any questions. I prefer this over a standardized rejection email.
Oh I’m so sorry. I’m expecting to hear a final answer after 6 rounds of interviews, and this just made me so much more nervous. I’d prefer an email with the option to schedule a call.
This happened to me for a job that had a 2 month interview process. It was so annoying especially because recruiter called, left vm asking to call back, return call and miss, so had to wait by the phone hoping to catch this call that I thought would be an offer (who leaves a message asking to speak if bad news?).
What does everyone think about live rejections versus a simple but nice email?
E-mail is definitely better unless it’s a soft rejection (i.e there is another position opening up soon that you will be at the front of the line for).