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I started a new job a few weeks ago and the company has around 10 more hires planned for the year, including 3 in my department. My boss came back to her desk after an interview and debriefed us. She said "I think the candidate would be excellent at the job, but they bored me to tears."
Another person chimed in about how important cultural fit was, especially in our company. There are a range of personalities here, but the key thing is everyone has a distinct personality. No wallflowers. Even the introverted engineers (to stereotype). Everyone is passionate about something. And apparently this candidate was passionate about nothing.
So tell me, have you heard or received this as feedback in a job or interview? "You are too boring."
This is the kind of reasoning that a candidate would never guess about why they were turned down, and it isn't even illegal or immoral.
I hope it's the kind of position where there are lots of good candidates to choose from. This doesn't strike me as a very good reason to ding a perfectly good candidate.
This doesn't strike me as a very good reason to ding a perfectly good candidate.
How so? If the supervisor isn't enthusiastic about an applicant then it doesn't matter what the reason is, the applicant shouldn't be hired. Supervisor and direct report often have to spend more time together than a person spends with his/her spouse (8+ hours at work on a weekday, less than 8 hours with spouse if you don't count being asleep) You wouldn't marry someone whom you consider boring, so why hire someone like that when there is bound to be friction because of it.
Especially when considering that there are tons of qualified applicants for every single job out there.
I think in any work environment, it's important for personalities to mesh. One oddball hire can throw a wrench into a well-oiled machine.
A few years back I worked the front desk at a doctor's office and all the girls I worked with were fun, outgoing and upbeat. A new hire came in that was a serious, boring Debbie Downer and it threw off the entire vibe of the office.
So even though dismissing a candidate for being too boring may seem petty on the surface, if the supervisor didn't get a good vibe, there was probably a good reason for it.
I can just see it now.....an office full of women who converse in many ways about each others Sex life and their home problems (husband/kids etc)......nothing boring about that office.
How so? If the supervisor isn't enthusiastic about an applicant then it doesn't matter what the reason is, the applicant shouldn't be hired. Supervisor and direct report often have to spend more time together than a person spends with his/her spouse (8+ hours at work on a weekday, less than 8 hours with spouse if you don't count being asleep) You wouldn't marry someone whom you consider boring, so why hire someone like that when there is bound to be friction because of it.
Especially when considering that there are tons of qualified applicants for every single job out there.
If I were the manager and applied that criteria to my coworkers, I doubt I would have hired most of them. And I would have missed out on some good workers.
I'm a strong introvert, so I don't consider it an important component of work to make friends and socialize. I admit that it's nice to have people that are fun to be around in the workplace, but in a technically-oriented workplace like mine, it would be a bad idea to value personality over competence. We'd never get any work done!
Maybe it makes sense for certain kinds of workplaces to value personality over competence, but I just have trouble imagining places like that being very productive.
What the hell kind of difference does it make if the candidate is boring? Can he do the job? I don't go to work to be entertained. As far as being passionate about the job, most people work to put food on the table. If someone talks about how much he loves his job, chances are he's blowing sunshine up your ass. Again, can the candidate do the job?
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If this is a job where the person would be working closely with others it might be a small part of the factors used to determine the best candidate, but it's very unprofessional of that boss to make such a comment to the other employees. For one thing, that person could end up being hired. For another one of the current employees may know the person. When my people ask how the interviews went I will say something like "Great!", or "OK" or maybe "not too good so far" but nothing specific about any of the candidates.
I can just see it now.....an office full of women who converse in many ways about each others Sex life and their home problems (husband/kids etc)......nothing boring about that office.
Not many women at my company. And that department (sub department) is made up of men. The other people range from sports fans to people who like to cook. One is pretty quiet and introverted. He came from a background of technical support. It is also about 2/3 engineers. People aren't getting rejected for being introverts.
Introvert =/= boring. Half of my friends are introverts. They are still passionate about stuff and like to have conversations in comfortable environments. They just recharge via quiet time. They feel drained after lots of people time. Unlike extroverts who feel excited and energized by people time.
Personally I feel stressed out when I don't fit in personality wise at work. It is fine if you are a cog in the wheel of thousands of people. But not so much in a small collaborative department.
If this is a job where the person would be working closely with others it might be a small part of the factors used to determine the best candidate, but it's very unprofessional of that boss to make such a comment to the other employees. For one thing, that person could end up being hired. For another one of the current employees may know the person. When my people ask how the interviews went I will say something like "Great!", or "OK" or maybe "not too good so far" but nothing specific about any of the candidates.
My direct department didn't meet this candidate. And we won't be working closely with them. So honestly I have no idea which of the dozen it was. No names or identifying characteristics were shared with us. Also, it is a casual enough office where if someone's friend was interviewed everyone would know.
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