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It's all business. I don't understand all the talk on this forum of guilt, or feeling terrible, etc. Hiring and interviewing are a necessary part of the process.
I don't hire people. I interview because I have some inexpensive rentals that I occasionally need tenants for. It's the same process. I want the best tenant; the fellow doing the job interviews wants the best employee.
Mostly, I feel sorry for the rejected applicants. I know they need a place to live, but I can't rent to them. The job interviewer knows his applicants need a job, but he can't hire them because they aren't a good fit.
With some applicants, I am relieved I caught their lies and I'm glad I dodged the bullet. Mostly, though, it is just sad people who aren't well prepared for the realities of life. I wish I could help them, but I can't.
Finding someone who appears to be a good fit fills me with hope that they will work out and be as good as they appear on paper.
The actual interviewing, though is stressful because so many applicants lie and if I make a mistake it is going to have serious consequences. The same for jobs. Make a mistake in hiring and it can possibly have very serious consequences. There's a lot of pressure there for the one trying to make the right choice in the selection.
To me, the main issue with the Original Question is the concept of "giving" someone a job. Unless one is the King of (whatever-country), such Imperial Largesse never enters into it. Employers are not "bestowing" anything on anyone, except perhaps the responsibility of working one's *ss off for fifty hours per week, fifty weeks per year, fer-danged-ever.... With all due respect to the OP, get this entire concept out of your mind!!!
The entire reason for the selection process is to find & hire the person or persons who (a) can & will best perform the required functions, and (b) will best fit into the existing culture, climate, and staff-mix. Period. Paragraph. End of Story.
I am human. I have regretted not being able to offer jobs to all of the qualified candidates. Do I cackle with glee when I tell someone (or several someones) that they won't be offered a position? Heck no. Do I wring my hands, pull my hair, and have bad dreams because of it? Again, heck no.
It's just business.
Regards,
-- Nighteyes
Last edited by Nighteyes; 02-03-2015 at 10:21 AM..
I worked for a department in a non-profit agency and have conducted interviews and hirings. It's hard because you can't know how a person will be in a role if you hire them. You don't know who would end up quitting right away, or who would be a lazy worker, or who would get along with everyone. You have to take into consideration their background- can they actually do the work the job needs them to do- but you also have to take into account the atmosphere/feel of the workplace; would an introvert do well here if everyone else is extroverted?, for example.
Especially in a bad economy like when I had to interview, it can be hard when you don't hire someone, especially if they're older and maybe have a family to support, especially if you hire someone who maybe is younger and might only be supporting themselves (although, of course, you never ask those kinds of questions in an interview- it's just speculation). It sucks knowing that you're not going to be giving someone in need a paycheck, but also, you might just be allowing them to have another door open; if you don't hire them, maybe they'll end up elsewhere where they'd be happier.
I've never hired or interviewed, obviously, and don't know if I could do it for the same reason I don't know if I could be a boss: I'd feel awful.
So, does it feel good or interesting to interview someone, then they get nothing?
Interested to hear.
No, of course it doesn't feel good. Especially when the candidate is clearly in over their head - you feel bad for them.
Fortunately, the times I've been asked to conduct an interview, I didn't have to handle the HR side of it. I mostly question a candidate's work history and computer knowledge. Sometimes I've been asked to conduct a modest skills test in Word, Excel, PPT and Outlook. Create a table in Word, a graph in Excel, and dump them both into PPT slides, attach saved PPT into email. Real easy stuff. It's when they can't even do that that I feel REALLY bad.
The only thing I can say about interviewing is that I try to make every candidate feel comfortable without implying ANYTHING about them getting the job. I don't say things like, "You would be doing ____." Instead I say, "In this department we ______." That way nobody leaves feeling like we implied they were the top pick.
It may not feel good to hire whoever you want, but I sure know to those same people it feels real good to fire someone without proper notice or proper reason. Mhm.
People who interview dont tell folks they got or did not get the job.
And 100% of folks I interview already have the job. I would of had not have HR bring them in if I did not think they are qualified. It is the folks who mess up the interview.
lazy, unprepared, unshaven, attitude, etc. My old company actually hired 1 out of ten applicants they interviewed and this was a 100K company, pretty big. 90% of candidates that look good on paper dont look good in person.
Are you baiting someone to answer this question as if they actually enjoy giving an interview only to get off on the fact that this person probably won't be getting a job?
It probably only feels great conducting interviews and the X amount of people that are interviewed are all quality applicants and when you finally choose to hire someone that this person becomes a valuable asset to the team.
People who interview dont tell folks they got or did not get the job. .
No, but they either make the decision, or contribute to the decision, of who will receive the job offer. While the actual offer usually comes from HR, they're not the ones who make the decision of who gets the offer.
My favorite interviews which really worked out a lot was my staff and HR would vet them for knowledge. I would then do a 100% behavioral interview.
You get folks who clam up and tell you nothing, folks who over-share. Also weed out folks who will be boring to work with.
One interview I went on the interesting question I got was so tell me what your parents do for a living? I also got do you have Brothers or Sisters, who is your favorite foot ball team, do you have pets.
One places years ago the interviewer would say it is getting hot in here can you open a window. Office windows in high rises dont open it is a trick question. Of course he cant open a window but you want to see his reaction.
And sometimes you need to wing it in an interview. Once I applied for a training program. They brought in 800 candidates for ten jobs. The interviewer asked how I felt about that. I answered I feel bad for the other 799 people as they only nine chances to get a job. The alpha male loved it. It could have gone bad. But when it is long odds roll the dice
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