Rude Candidates

2011-05-18 17:53:08

One of my recruiting colleagues has seen a very disturbing trend the last couple of weeks. Candidates that confirm for interviews, then the day before or the day of, send off an email telling the recruiter that they accepted another offer and aren't going to come in and interview. This is unconscionably rude, most especially to the hiring manager. It is also a bit duplicitous, because in each of the three cases, the candidates had told her they didn't have any offers on the table or believe they had any pending.

I don't think most candidates know how much time goes into scheduling interviews. The hiring manager provides the recruiter with a list of interviewers and alternates for a given position, usually 3-5 people. Either the recruiter or if s/he is lucky enough the recruiting coordinator/admin then spends several *hours* trying to build an interview loop based on the candidate's availability and all the interviewers. Usually this is done with Outlook.

Then the hiring manager will send out an email that all the interviewers read, with the information on what we are considering the candidate for, any feedback from phone screens, and asks each interviewer to read the resume, the notes, and then formulate questions to address specific competencies or past history. And keep in mind that this usually happens for *several candidates for each position.*

The reason a position is usually open is either because someone has left, or the business is growing enough to justify additional people resources. That means that until the opening is filled, everyone on the team is pulling a significant additional portion of additional responsibitities over and above normal. And then they take out an extra hour or two for *each candidate* in the form of preparation, interview, and then feedback.

So don't be a rude candidate. Don't wait until the last minute to cancel an interview. Or better yet, even if you have an offer in hand, go to the interview and see if you may have a better opportunity to compare.

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Allan Bob: Re: - Rude Candidates
2011-06-16 12:09:10

Kristen,

What about all the time when recruiters and hiring managers are rude with candidates? Don't you think recruiters, hiring managers deserve to be treated the exact same way they treat candidates?
Well, I do.

Kristen: Re: - Rude Candidates
2011-07-12 14:19:22

Allan,
Without a concrete example I cannot comment. I cannot speak for all recruiters or hiring managers, but I hope my colleagues at least contact a candidate to reschedule appointments with a reasonable amount of notice. For example, I had a lunch interview scheduled with a VP that was called out of town unexpectedly the week prior to the meeting. I contacted the candidate, rescheduled it, and the candidate never showed, never emailed/called. Needless to say the candidate sabotaged all opportunities with the company.

Elle: Re: - Rude Candidates
2012-04-02 10:53:20

Hi, interesting post. I understand your point of view. I cam across this article by searching for "rude hr". I think that there's rude and considerate people on both sides. This past week I had an interview cancelled less than 2 hours before the meeting (while I was already on my way to commuting there) and also, a manager left me a voicemail to call at my convenience. I called half an hour after, tried two more times every hour and left a voicemail also. 3 days and no response. I get that hr people are busy, but you are not the president. Some people use this post to get on a power trip and treat highly qualified people (probably more than the HR) as garbage

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