Yesterday the wife went to a job interview in a sector that’s quite similar to her current job. Her maternity leave is due to end soon and she’s looking for a new career.
Apart from the nerves she said that the interview went well and that the employer was going to call back last night which they did. Unfortunately she didn’t get the job but asked for feedback which the employer gave her.
The thing that was weird is that the employer stated that the main reason why she didn’t get the job was that they expected her to phone the place and visit the place before the interview which wasn’t stated in the application, which surprised my wife as if she did that to her current place of work her manager would tell her to piss off.
Is it normal to expect a potential candidate to come in and contact the place of work before an interview? Isn’t this called something like canvassing for jobs? We were both quite confused.
33 comments
I do advocate a dry run before interviews but I’d never think of making myself known to the company, just a spec mission to make myself aware of any traffic issues and whatnot.
Does seem a bit odd.
Either they made up reason why they never or hired her, or they were been serious. Which in that case its not really normal for workplaces to do that.
No not all normal someone’s personal opinion here is being projected verging on being unprofessional in my view
Hypothetically does it count if I’ve been in your computers the last 2 weeks?
There is/was an unwritten expectation for doctors applying for consultant positions in the NHS to visit the department and meet the clinical leadership, at least in some regions. I think this is pretty old school now though and, especially as many of the appointments are international candidates who may not be in the UK when they apply, I would be surprised if it influenced chances of success at interview.
I’ve never heard of it happening with nurses though.
In some sectors they put a “contact this number for any extra info” at the bottom and it’s expected that candidates will use that to register their interest before submitting their application.
In my industry it would certainly count in someones favour if they had visited the premises and spoken to the other staff. It wouldn’t be a reason we didn’t hire someone, but if other candidates had done it and there wasn’t much else in it, we’d go with the one who had already visited. But I can see how in other fields this would be totally useless and unexpected.
I only really know this with teaching. It often states in the ads when tours will take place or ‘please call to arrange a visit’
That’s bollocks and sounds like an excuse. I would expect an interviewee to know about the organisation and to have done a bit of research but why would I care as an employer if they popped in previously or phoned. It doesn’t add anything to their employability and frankly if someone turned up to my office a week before interview and wanted a tour I would be a bit put out! We always did a tour of the place as part of the interview process and we always let the “juniors” inthe office do the tour. It was amazing what people say when they are off guard!
This is pretty common in nursing, usually in the job listing advertisement there will be an ‘informal contact’, it stands you in good stead if you call that person and ask about the role then have an informal visit to see department.
I’ve gotten jobs before without doing it but I think if it came down to two candidates and one had arranged a visit when the other hadn’t then it could well tip the balance in favour of the person who had. It sucks for your wife when she simply didn’t know it was an expectation.
It certainly is for schools yes.
For other workplaces I have worked in, professional roles and wasn’t necessarily expected to have visited as opposed to have conversed with the recruiters/managers before applying.
This one depends on the job. Forbthe type of job you describe this sounds weird.
For a management style position you might do this, for mutual benefit to make sure that the candidate and the post match up.
As others have said, this sounds like amade-up excuse to justify not hiring.
It sounds like a bs response from the employer. If it wasn’t stipulated in pre-interview communications then that is fault of them and any agency/site they use to advertise the post.
Quite possibly they already had someone in mind but had to extend the opportunity externally – not unusual really.
Is your wife happy in current position or just looking for fresh surroundings on return from maternity.
The giveaway is, if that were the reason then they knew before they interview she wasn’t hired and would not have interviewed her.
Therefore, lie
They aren’t allowed to say “my son’s gf interviewed too and I already promised her the job months ago so your interview was a box ticking exercise” out loud, but tbh what they DID say is ridiculous. Never ever heard of this, and it’s completely inappropriate to do in many many workplaces. Useless advice. I don’t even know what your wife does but she should not act on this “feedback” for future interviews.
I have worked in HR for more than 20 years and have never heard of this.
My friend did that once and got a huge bollocking from the company she visited, that it was unprofessional and not to bother with the interview now. We thought that was a weird way to react because surely it showed interest? Since then, I’d never dream of turning up or phoning beforehand. Now I’m confused.
It’s not a reason to not get the job. At the point someone gets to interview, all candidates are on an even playing field and the interviews are strictly based on a points system. Not calling prior to the applications closing is not a valid reason for not getting a post.
If your wife believes the interview went well, she should contact the Trust HR department to raise concerns about the recruitment process and the feedback she received.
With regard to contacting the recruiting manager, it is considered to be good practice to call them and have a conversation about the role being advertised before submitting an application. If there’s an option to go in and see the work site (as a result of the conversation or a planned open day), it doesn’t hurt to be open to going to see it, but in my experience, most managers prefer not to have to play host to a load of potential candidates when there’s likely only one post… cynical, yes but also realistic.🤷
It does sound weird, unless during the interview it came across that she hadnt done any research or knew anything about the company etc.
Just on a side note, if she leaves at the end of her maternity leave, doesnt she have to pay some of it back to her existing company?
I note others have said nursing? If this the NHS then yes this is pretty common, particularly for more senior positions.
I work as a doctor and it is expected that someone applying for a consultant role reaches out to leadership via the contacts posted to talk on the phone (or teams) and if practical come for a site visit and meet people. Particularly once short listed for interview.
Also for the senior jobs like Consultanta or Matrons, senior managers etc, candidates generally arrange to meet each of the interview panel before the interview. I’ve been on interview panels where its counted against people when they haven’t reached out to meet any of the members of the interview panel.
It’s not all positions, it’s for senior roles but it’s pretty standard in the NHS. The logic is these are high paid senior rolls and potentially 40 year appointments; it’s to make sure someone has determined whether the job is a good fit for them and they understand the culture and set up for the unit or department they’re joining.
Nhs would expect someone to have a conversation about the job with the manager
Definitely made up. If it’s not that is not somewhere you want to work.
Probably discrimination tbh.
Is it public sector? If so, its an option but far from mandatory or indeed should be expected.
I am wondering if the candidate that got the work done this and stood out for doing it.
Good luck to the other half and her job search.
That’s weird. I do scope the place out if I’m having an interview but only more to put my mind at rest. I get nervous and I like to know where I’m going. But I’ve never heard it being an essential thing?
This seems like a weird holdover from a previous generation. When I was younger you would do this but it is I believe fairly uncommon now. Some interview guides do still suggest ringing up to talk about the job but most places I have worked would find that a bit much.
Sounds like a shit excuse. I went for an interview about a year ago where I didn’t get the job. My bullshit bit of feedback was that I didn’t make it clear enough why I wanted to get into engineering. It was literally my first question in the interview and I spoke about it longer than any other question I was asked.
Mind you, a weeks later it was reported in the local news that a man threw himself off a dual carriageway bridge because the HR/management of the company completely mismanaged a disciplinary against him so glad I didn’t get the job after all.
Bit weird to expect that. Maybe they think as shes had one, she could have another child?
That’s just ridiculous thing to do. She’s just applying not working already. Why would your wife do that and one thing more, you said that it was not in the application, so why would she?
When I worked for the council HR stopped people visiting prior to interview because of ‘equal opportunities’. They couldn’t explain what was equal about it when there could be internal candidates who knew the workplace but external ones who weren’t allowed a visit.
NHS bod here. I’ve also been stung by this but it made sense as I was answering interview questions in a way that didn’t quite reflect the new job.
So it’s either made up or the winning candidate had visited and answered better in relation to the actual team they would be in.
It’s not about canvassing, it’s about showing an interest and putting the effort in to get to know the organization, or something. I agree with it to an extent, but I wouldn’t use not doing it as a strike against a candidate. Especially if you’ve recently become a mother.
The only time I have heard of this sort of bullshit was in the NHS, oh they want the job more if they call and speak to the person mentioned on the job advert. Utter crap – if you’ve written a comprehensive JD then there shouldn’t be a need for a call.
I had a similar thing for an NHS role. They apparently expected me to call the hiring manager to ask for more information about the role prior to the interview. When I told them I’d been working 12 hour shifts over the course of the 5 days between the interview being arranged I was just met with an ‘Oh…’. Waste of time.