15-04-2005 21:42									#1
	"We'd love to employ you, but ......." Remove this text

I'm severely pissed off at the moment.
I've just been turned down for an excellent job on the basis that I was too serious in the interview.
I had the best test scores of anyone they've interviewed there (maybe not ever, but certainly as far back as the finance manager has been there), they said I did really well in the interview, but apparently have decided to pass on me on those ridiculous grounds.
It's a bloody interview - not a pub crawl!!!! I'd be worried if someone wasn't serious enough. Plus, I thought that the interview was fine, and we shared a few jokes that they have possibly blanked from their memories.

So, polytubbies, in a bid to relieve my gloom, what are the most outrageous reasons you have been refused a job for?

	15-04-2005 21:45									#2
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i think some the of time that happens where the person who is the best fit for the company gets hired rather best qualified.

	15-04-2005 21:49									#3
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I've never been turned down for a job...

...then again, I've never applied for a "real" job, and I don't ever intend to...

	15-04-2005 21:50									#4
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MRT:

But that's impossible to judge at interview! Only when you get them to meet the people they'll be working with will you really know.

	15-04-2005 21:52									#5
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quote: Originally posted by The Emperor Fabulous I've never been turned down for a job... ...then again, I've never applied for a "real" job, and I don't ever intend to...

I just wondered how you planned to live. Do you already have a job or business, wealthy parents, etc ??

	15-04-2005 21:52									#6
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hes in school

	15-04-2005 21:54									#7
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When I was between jobs, the only reasons I ever got were:

We can't afford you...
You are over qualified...


And DOY...
Even though you never interviewed with your eventual work team... the person you did interview with might have had the opinion that you didn't fit the overall corporate culture... When we review people, we send them to our "professional screener" first... and if they pass muster, than we have the people they are going to work with interview them.

	15-04-2005 21:55									#8
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quote: Originally posted by duke o' york MRT: But that's impossible to judge at interview! Only when you get them to meet the people they'll be working with will you really know.

You can get a sense at an interview. As for the reason the Duke was given, thats odd but perhaps they dodn't want to say " we thought you were an arrogant ass" or "our VP was uncomfortable that you were staring at her breasts" or " we had to hire the boss's son".

The reality is that you don't know what really happened and the reason may or may not be what you were told. It could have nothing to do with you (boss's son) or maybe things weren't nearly as good as you thought

	15-04-2005 21:57									#9
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How do I get around this? (Ignoring the fact that I am, as are all intelligent lifeforms, allergic to HR people)

I don't want to act like a total buffoon in interviews. Well, not unless they take place in the Shakespeare's Head.

	15-04-2005 22:00									#10
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quote: Originally posted by Ming When I was between jobs, the only reasons I ever got were: We can't afford you... You are over qualified...

THose suck since the can't afford you is for the employee to decide once they are told the salary range but it ties into the overqualified reason. To me they are saying " we know that pretty soon you will get a better job than this and will leave us" -- Often they are right

I used to hate the "overqualified " reason but if I were hiring an assistent now, I wouldn't want the person that almost has their degree. I'd want the person that will be a good assistent and will be happy being an assistent

	15-04-2005 22:02									#11
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We're having that trouble at my current job. Perhaps influenced by my experience there. They employ someone who will do a good job for them, but will swiftly outgrow the position they hold, and have nowhere else to move within the organisation.
(or in my case, because I'm not moving to London to work for the same firm in a better job - fortunately not a sackable offence because they still need me where I am)

	15-04-2005 22:06									#12
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I am looking for a job right now, and have been thinking about all my turn downs.

1. I've gotten the "your not qualified enough/we found another person more qualified" ones, mainly because I apply for jobs over my head. Heck! They call me, I don't call them, so I must be somewhat qualified for them to even contact me on the matter.

2. The interview I had in AZ told me that I would make a better Process Engineer than a Quality Engineer. No sheit sherlock, I am a Process Engineer! Doh!!!

3. I got turned down for one because "they wanted to go in another direction"... plurp! What? East? Oh well, that job required management experience, I have none of that besides pushing Sava around

4. My last job I commuted from Sacramento to South San Francisco, and passed a similar process plant of the same company I worked for within 20 minutes of my 90 minute drive. I interviewed for a transfer and didn't get it on the grounds that "I didn't want it enough". WTF I drive 90 minutes one way and I don't want the exact same job 70 minutes closer! Go F' yourself!... I actually told them that, and that is what I don't work there anymore


I'm still interviewing so I am bound to get some better ones than that...

	15-04-2005 22:06									#13
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quote: Originally posted by duke o' york How do I get around this? (Ignoring the fact that I am, as are all intelligent lifeforms, allergic to HR people) I don't want to act like a total buffoon in interviews. Well, not unless they take place in the Shakespeare's Head.

Well one refusal is not a big deal and could happen for any reason but if youi find you have a pattern of jobs that you are extremely well qualified for . . and the interview seems to go well and you don't get the job . . . well then you might have a problem.

I don't know you but having sat in on some interviews, many go badly for weird reasons. I remember one with an articulate candidate that said all the right things . . . pretty much perfect answers to everything but he must have read too much about the importance of eye contact since he stared and stared in an intense way. When he left, the interviewing panel rejected him in less than a minute since he pretty much made us all feel uncomfortable

	15-04-2005 22:09									#14
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But did you really think that the candidate would have done that all the time? There must have been something else about him that put you off.

	15-04-2005 22:12									#15
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I think that sometimes a person can rub someone the wrong way regardless of intentions or even what they do.

It is kind of like my intense hatred for Rick Fox. I have no idea why I don't like the guy, I just want to smack him around for half an hour or so for some reason.

don't worry duke, something better will come along.

If it makes you feel better PH loses jobs because he's a pretentious snob

	15-04-2005 22:17									#16
	Re: "We'd love to employ you, but ......." Get a bigger avatar today!

quote: Originally posted by duke o' york I'm severely pissed off at the moment. I've just been turned down for an excellent job on the basis that I was too serious in the interview. I had the best test scores of anyone they've interviewed there (maybe not ever, but certainly as far back as the finance manager has been there), they said I did really well in the interview, but apparently have decided to pass on me on those ridiculous grounds. It's a bloody interview - not a pub crawl!!!! I'd be worried if someone wasn't serious enough. Plus, I thought that the interview was fine, and we shared a few jokes that they have possibly blanked from their memories. So, polytubbies, in a bid to relieve my gloom, what are the most outrageous reasons you have been refused a job for?

Sounds familiar duke o'york. I once had an interview for a toxicology lab that did a lot of organ bath/animal work. I was by a mile the one with the most experience, my research experience fitted the part perfectly and I had a good interview and a good rapport with the interview. Only one other competitor for the position - a fresh graduate with no experience. Who got the job? The other person...I was turned down for being 'too confident'.

At the end of the day though, if they wanted someone to be meek I wouldn't have fitted in. Perhaps they wanted someone who was more jovial (I'm not saying you aren't but often these teams had a certain dynamic, perhaps they have a different kind of humour or personality in mind when they are looking).

At the end of the day my personality traits make me very good at my position - I am confident and brassy, but I am hard working and take responsibility and never shy away from something - and they love that trait in me. At Novartis this jarred horribly with what they expected of me...horses for courses...and don't forget that. I know hindsight can be a wonderful thing though. Just keep pushing...

	15-04-2005 22:19									#17
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quote: Originally posted by Japher If it makes you feel better PH loses jobs because he's a pretentious snob

I'm certainly not pretentious (I know you're only kidding) but you have to be in the right environment to thrive...

	15-04-2005 22:25									#18
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My wife got turned down for a job, and they hired one of her employees instead (as the company they were coming from was folding)... Any way, my wife is glad she didn't get the job as the person who did is getting pushed around and being made to do menial tasks.

You can't push my wife around.

quote: I know you're only kidding

Maybe I am, maybe I'm not

	15-04-2005 22:30									#19
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My interviewer yesterday said I had a great personality. I sure tricked her.

This is why I think I got the job. They had a couple other people to interview, but I have the gut feeling I really clicked with the people doing the hiring.

Last edited by chegitz guevara on 15-04-2005 at 22:38

	15-04-2005 22:40									#20
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I actually got turned down once for the opposite reason laid out in the OP - I was too laid back. It was for an investment banking position, and one of the interviewers (I interviewed with three different people)actually called me up afterwards and told me that she loved me, but that I was too laid back and not intense enough. Probably for the best, since it didn't take me much longer after that to decide that I didn't want to go into I banking. She actually called me up a year later when another position opened up at the same shop to encourage me to apply. It was nice to be remembered, but it just wasn't my bag.

	15-04-2005 22:41									#21
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It's a communist conspiracy!

	15-04-2005 22:44									#22
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Employers rarely give the real reason why you are turned down. Mainly because it would land them in court way too many times. So don't try to correct something that may not be a problem.

There are exceptions of course

I did a behavioural interview with a candidate and every answer of his displayed his total lack of respect for any authority figures. I asked the person at the end about how he thought he did and he answered "I thought I nailed every question" My interviewing partner and I laughed for about an hour. We eventually told him that his skills didn't match the position requirements enough.

	15-04-2005 22:51									#23
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quote: Originally posted by MRT144 i think some the of time that happens where the person who is the best fit for the company gets hired rather best qualified.

Very astute, MRT. That is likely what happened here.

They know that you can do the job - your resume, test scores, and history show it. What the interview process is for is to see whether your personality is a good fit for the company.

I'm also surprised they actually told you why. You now can take them to court for wrongful hiring practices or something.

	15-04-2005 23:37									#24
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most of my jobs I've been hired at were for companies that were desparate for people. They had no choice, but to take me.

	15-04-2005 23:44									#25
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The guy hired his cousin/brother/sister/etc no doubt.

	15-04-2005 23:46									#26
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quote: Originally posted by rah I did a behavioural interview with a candidate and every answer of his displayed his total lack of respect for any authority figures. I asked the person at the end about how he thought he did and he answered "I thought I nailed every question" My interviewing partner and I laughed for about an hour. We eventually told him that his skills didn't match the position requirements enough.

At my last place they were interviewing for another web designer. They felt pretty much he was out of his depth, most of his design work previously being for his father. Then they asked him on a scale of 1 to 10, rate your Photoshop skill. He said a ten. We laughed about that for months afterwords, not because he was horrible, but simply that no one is a 10. The best people are 9s, simeply because the program is more powerful than anyone can master. Whenever there would be a lull in the conversation for a few months, someone would then just say, "I'm a ten."

I'm a total geek, aren't I?

	15-04-2005 23:49									#27
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quote: Originally posted by chegitz guevara At my last place they were interviewing for another web designer. They felt pretty much he was out of his depth, most of his design work previously being for his father. Then they asked him on a scale of 1 to 10, rate your Photoshop skill. He said a ten. We laughed about that for months afterwords, not because he was horrible, but simply that no one is a 10. The best people are 9s, simeply because the program is more powerful than anyone can master. Whenever there would be a lull in the conversation for a few months, someone would then just say, "I'm a ten." I'm a total geek, aren't I?

	15-04-2005 23:50									#28
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"I'm a total geek, aren't I?"

total? No. You're about a 9.

	15-04-2005 23:54									#29
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The Experts Agree: Che is a 9?

	16-04-2005 00:00									#30
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quote: I just wondered how you planned to live. Do you already have a job or business, wealthy parents, etc ??

I'm an actor. So I'll probably be living off of bartending and waiting jobs.