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This has happened twice, after going through the application etc when you finally get to the person who decides if you get hired. One person went into great detail about her sister who had cancer. Another about their divorce. I could never figure out if this was a test to see how I would deal with chatty coworkers. I'm talking about 30-45 minutes of revelations where it seemed I really had a chance of getting hired. It felt rude to try to exit and I didn't get hired at either place.
i think it's probably just people who don't have boundaries, rather than a test. that's not really a reasonable environment to test your response to chattiness, since pretty much anyone would behave very differently in a job interview than you would with coworkers on the job. so if it's meant as a test, it's not a good one.
i had a guy who owned a company interview me for a travelling personal assistant job and BOY did he creep me out with how much he talked about his divorce, his ex, their custody problems, how jealous his ex was or wasn't of the women who worked for him.... yuck. no thank you.
i also had a woman give me way too much information about another candidate once - i applied for a job and she got back to me and went into great detail about this other candidate, including what organizations she previously worked at and for how long. said she was going to hire her if they could afford her, but if not she'd get in touch with me. i think i might have dodged a bullet there too! i mean it's sort of nice to know that this is who i came in second to, because this candidate did sound impressive. but i have to question the judgment of someone who just looks at a resume and decides they are definitely going to hire someone, and then tells another candidate that!
My first thought is maybe it's good they open up to you (even though in a way they are using you to have someone to listen to them, like a sounding board.) I figure if you're a good listener they will like you and want to have you around. Doesn't sound that way from the first two posts. But really what can you do in a situation like that? I feel it was very unprofessional to reveal personal information about another candidate but what could be done about it?
I've had it happened to me where the interviewer just drones on and on about stuff, not necessarily personal subject matters. I'd rack my brain to try and steer the one-way conversation back to me so they can properly evaluate my qualifications instead. I never take it as a good sign when the interviewer is talking more than the candidate.
My first thought is maybe it's good they open up to you (even though in a way they are using you to have someone to listen to them, like a sounding board.) I figure if you're a good listener they will like you and want to have you around. Doesn't sound that way from the first two posts. But really what can you do in a situation like that? I feel it was very unprofessional to reveal personal information about another candidate but what could be done about it?
there's nothing you can do about any of it except take it as a sign of what it's like to work with that person and take it into account if you receive an offer. i think it's really important, when you have the luxury of being able to turn down jobs (obviously not everyone does), to really scrutinize the manager and work environment and decide if the job is a good fit for YOU and not just vice versa.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jaypee
I never take it as a good sign when the interviewer is talking more than the candidate.
yeah, i feel the same way. it's often just a sign of a bad interviewer but you're not going to make much of an impression on them if you don't get a chance to talk. it's definitely best to steer things back to yourself as much as you can, and really utilize asking questions at the end of the interview to cover things that should have been asked in the first place.
I tend to find interviewers who are inexperienced and nervous ramble on about personal details as a way to cope with the awkwardness.
I work in HR, and I've done enough interviews to already have a script in my head, and I'm comfortable enough to ask probing questions that allow the candidate to speak freely.
what bothers me the most is when the interviewer complains about former employees, especially the ones whose job you'll be filling. I wonder, are they going to bad mouth me after I leave or they lay me off? We don't complain about past employers so it makes sense for potential ones not to complain about former workers. I have a problem when the interviewer goes on and on about some women who worked there for 15 years and moved to NJ after she got married. Do I REALLY need to know this? So what, I should never get married and move? What was the point of telling me that. That I would have some major shoes to fill? That was way too much info for me. It tells me a lot when they complain about workers, previous or present. It's low class.
we don't complain about past employers so it makes sense for potential ones not to complain about former workers.
lol!!
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