Question about telephone interviews

[reader]

Just want to say hello to everyone first before I ask my question

 

I recently had a phone interview which lasted 20 mins and at the end I was expecting a scheduled face to face interview. But the HR director told me due to the holiday next week candidates will be contacted for face to face interviews the week of 12/2/13. She also wanted to make sure I had her phone number before we ended the call

 

So just want to know what do you think of this outcome and what are some bad signs of telephone interviews

 

 

Thanks a lot

[Mesemene]

I wouldn't read much into it being postponed for the holiday weekend. It's not uncommon for a lot of people to take extra days off around Thanksgiving and leave others to fill in - there's a good chance they may not have the manpower, or the individual they want to do the interviews for this position may be unavailable.

 

If you don't hear back at the end of the 12/2 week, it wouldn't be out of place to call the HR director at the number you were given and ask for an update.

 

A vague "we'll get back to you if we need more information," with no mention of a followup is usually a negative sign - either they already have someone they want to hire internally and are fulfilling a mandatory external headcount, or someone else has already impressed them to the point the rest is just going through the motions. Or they don't feel you'd be a good match.

 

Sounds like they're still interested in a face to face interview - so I'd think positive, and maybe do some basic research on the company, while you wait.

[reader]

Thanks for the reply,

 

 

yeah the one good thing that I did take from the phone interview was the HR lady asking do I have her number. So I would not have a problem calling her if I was not to hear anything by 12/6/13. It's almost was asked like she wants to make sure I stay in touch with her and not lose interest in the position.

[reader]

Just want to say that that company never called me and I pretty much knew that I said something wrong which is why i did not have a scheduled face to face interview when I hung up the phone. And I knew that statement about the holiday was bull crap because it was still 2 business days left in that week and 3 business days before thanksgiving.

 

So let this be a lesson to anyone who has a phone interview, if you end the call and you have no scheduled face to face date, then chances are they were not impressed with you

[reader]

Just wanted to say that this organization emailed me this weekend asking can I come in for a interview 3 weeks after I started a new job. lol She claimed that the holiday season has a way of slowing down the hiring process which was a lie because my phone interview was a week before thanksgiving and 5 weeks before Christmas

 

so it looks like someone accepted the job and then changed their mind for a better offer so now they decided to email me and ask can I come in for a interview on 2 days notice. I am amazed at the arrogance of these employers in 2013.

[mines]

Very interesting.

 

It could be that you were their 2nd choice, and their 1st choice didn't accept the offer (too low, another job) or perhaps didn't pass the background check or drug screening.

 

Obviously they should have picked you, you quickly got another job (Congrats!) and they lose.

 

Good information though about the phone interview. If you don't have a face to face scheduled at the end, it's over (temporarily at least!)

 

Hope you like your new job!

[reader]

Very interesting.

 

It could be that you were their 2nd choice, and their 1st choice didn't accept the offer (too low, another job) or perhaps didn't pass the background check or drug screening.

 

Obviously they should have picked you, you quickly got another job (Congrats!) and they lose.

 

Good information though about the phone interview. If you don't have a face to face scheduled at the end, it's over (temporarily at least!)

 

Hope you like your new job!

 

 

 

With the new job I am in training for 5 weeks and will be tested which will determine whether or not I will be hired lol

 

So now i feel like I am back in college again, studying everynight. So I am getting paid to learn until March

[GinNJuice]

How does the job you interviewed for originally compare to the job you accepted? Would you still have to undergo training to determine whether or not you're hired? Are you only turning down the first opportunity out of spite?

[reader]

How does the job you interviewed for originally compare to the job you accepted? Would you still have to undergo training to determine whether or not you're hired? Are you only turning down the first opportunity out of spite?

 

The job I accepted is dealing with "early childhood education" and the job that took to long to call was "financial counseling"

 

Not sure if I would have needed training for the other job but I had to turn it down because i am no longer available to interview.

[Batya33]

Just wanted to say that this organization emailed me this weekend asking can I come in for a interview 3 weeks after I started a new job. lol She claimed that the holiday season has a way of slowing down the hiring process which was a lie because my phone interview was a week before thanksgiving and 5 weeks before Christmas

 

so it looks like someone accepted the job and then changed their mind for a better offer so now they decided to email me and ask can I come in for a interview on 2 days notice. I am amazed at the arrogance of these employers in 2013.

 

That's not arrogant. It's just the way business works. Not your business whether it was the holiday season or some other reason - if you don't want the job, don't take the job- obviously they took the risk that you'd no longer be available but nothing to do with arrogance.

[reader]

That's not arrogant. It's just the way business works. Not your business whether it was the holiday season or some other reason - if you don't want the job, don't take the job- obviously they took the risk that you'd no longer be available but nothing to do with arrogance.

 

I don't appreciate her lying because she clearly said applicants will be interviewed the week of 12/2 to 12/6. I heard nothing that week and even when I sent a email asking about a scheduled face to face interview she never responded to my email. And now that I think about I should have just ignored the email and never responded since she was not only calling 6 weeks later but not even allowing me enough time to get ready for a interview. Instead of her saying Monday she should have asked what would be a good day for me to come in next week.

[Batya33]

I don't appreciate her lying because she clearly said applicants will be interviewed the week of 12/2 to 12/6. I heard nothing that week and even when I sent a email asking about a scheduled face to face interview she never responded to my email. And now that I think about I should have just ignored the email and never responded since she was not only calling 6 weeks later but not even allowing me enough time to get ready for a interview. Instead of her saying Monday she should have asked what would be a good day for me to come in next week.

 

You have an interesting perspective on the job market. Last time I checked, it's an employer's market. Ask how high you should jump during the interview process. That's what everyone else is doing. If you want to get nitpicky about "lying" and how long it should take a potential employer to get back to you then do so -you'll have plenty of time to ruminate over it since you will be unemployed while 10 other people jump at the chance to be lied to by human resources because they know that once they get the job they'll have limited contact with the HR people. And even if they had more than limited contact they'd let these kind of "lies" roll off their backs because they would like to be employed at a job that involves their skills and training.

[reader]

You have an interesting perspective on the job market. Last time I checked, it's an employer's market. Ask how high you should jump during the interview process. That's what everyone else is doing. If you want to get nitpicky about "lying" and how long it should take a potential employer to get back to you then do so -you'll have plenty of time to ruminate over it since you will be unemployed while 10 other people jump at the chance to be lied to by human resources because they know that once they get the job they'll have limited contact with the HR people. And even if they had more than limited contact they'd let these kind of "lies" roll off their backs because they would like to be employed at a job that involves their skills and training.

 

Just because it's an employer's market doesn't mean that a job seeker should put up with nonsense. I remember years ago I showed up a interview and told the receptionist my name and then after 2 mins she came to me and said

 

"the interviewer wants to know if Is it ok for you come back tomorrow since she is in a meeting"

 

Of course my answer was no and I left.

[Batya33]

Just because it's an employer's market doesn't mean that a job seeker should put up with nonsense. I remember years ago I showed up a interview and told the receptionist my name and then after 2 mins she came to me and said

 

"the interviewer wants to know if Is it ok for you come back tomorrow since she is in a meeting"

 

Of course my answer was no and I left.

 

And "of course" you're unemployed. My definition of nonsense in this type of market is far far different from yours. What I would have done in that instance is given the interviewer at least one more chance to be reliable. You're getting in your own way with your particular standards. Do all you want when you have competing offers (but still be polite and don't burn bridges -you never know when you'll run into those people again and need a job) but when you're unemployed, yup, put up with that sort of "nonsense".

[reader]

And "of course" you're unemployed. My definition of nonsense in this type of market is far far different from yours. What I would have done in that instance is given the interviewer at least one more chance to be reliable. You're getting in your own way with your particular standards. Do all you want when you have competing offers (but still be polite and don't burn bridges -you never know when you'll run into those people again and need a job) but when you're unemployed, yup, put up with that sort of "nonsense".

 

 

The fact that I was asked to come back another day made it clear that they already selected someone for the job so it was no point in wasting transportation to come back another day