
Ask HN: Why do tech interview recruiters not reject me - designml
Let me explain. I have been interviewing actively with tech companies and startups recently having already done about 15 interviews with different companies and into multiple rounds. I go through the phone screening, technical round and then meeting them on site. So far so good. Sometimes I know that the interview did not go well but sometimes I feel that it was really good. But after this starts my biggest headache.<p>They stop communicating totally as if the company doesnt even exist. They dont send any emails accepting or rejecting me (has been weeks). This has happened with 4 companies so far and I am fed up of sending email asking them again (mind you these are big named ones trending here often).<p>I dont mind being rejected. But to leave me &#x27;hoping&#x27; is the biggest problem I have with them. I understand that you dont want a bad hire but atleast saying that you are not a fit right now is what I am expecting.<p>I also find this to be a bigger problem in the US than in some other countries I have worked.
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MalcolmDiggs
In my experience:

1\. You apply, you do okay. Let's call you applicant A.

2\. Company has found someone else they want more, so they start moving
forward with that person (applicant B).

3\. Recruiter knows that that applicant B might reject their offer or take a
different gig, so he doesn't tell you (applicant A) any of this. He waits
until things are 100% finalized between the company and applicant B before he
gets back to you at all.

4\. In some cases, after a month of silence, he comes back and says "they're
ready to hire you" (because Applicant B turned them down), or he'll say "they
just hired someone else", or he'll forget to respond to you entirely.

Moral of the story: Just keep moving, keep interviewing elsewhere. If they get
back to you someday, great. If they don't, no sweat.

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twunde
Companies don't benefit from sending out rejection letters unless they think
they may want to hire someone they previously rejected. There is also the
potential for legal liability if they say something. That on top of the time
it would take an already super-busy person to send emails to all the
candidates means that many companies don't bother.

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audieleon
As a hiring manager in a large company, I can tell you that most of the people
you are interviewing with aren't being actively rude, they are overwhelmed.

If I took the time to contact all the people I passed on to give them an
explanation, it would consume more time than I can afford. The people making
the decision to hire are - usually - the ones with the most to do.

The safest bet is to consider any lack of communication a "no." Personally, if
I want to hire someone, I make the offer on the same day I interview them. Any
company worth your time should do the same.

On a side note, you should make a habit of giving and getting business cards
from your interviewers - particularly the decision maker. Also, turn the
interview around if you can. Your talents are worth a good company. Make THEM
SELL YOU on their job. Don't take a stance of hope. Make sure they leave the
interview knowing you are the right person, and the question is "will YOU
accept their offer?"

Good luck!

~~~
dudul
Such a depressing post. So the poor lad who spent his time to come interview
doesn't deserve you to spent, literally 2 minutes sending him a rejection
email?

People are so self absorbed nowadays. You can't even find the time to at least
thank someone for their time (and we're talking many hours here, and probably
money to commute to your office) and wish them good luck.

Surprised to see you on HN mister overwhelmed.

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mdip
I used to do a bit of this and it's a sort-of paradox. (I'm referring entirely
to my last job, not my current where I have not done hiring yet and we've
brought on several people in a very short period of time)

On the one hand, we hire because we desperately need someone to fill a role
we're now doing in addition to our current work.

On the other hand, we are so miserably overwhelmed with work that going
through the mess of things with HR to get everything figured out takes way
longer than it should. In the middle of that might also be something happening
to the position itself -- it was open and available when we listed it, but now
the company's financials came out and we don't know if the position is still
available. So we sit on it, for weeks, waiting to hear back from a VP. It gets
approved but, nuts, the candidate's found another job already.

But within your question you seem to be asking for help in getting the job.
You think you've interviewed well so you might have been within the top few
candidates and just didn't get selected. The person who got selected,
obviously, was notified. You were not and I guarantee that this will happen
most of the time. As an interviewer, we didn't handle any of that
communication -- you came to me with a resume attached in an e-mail from our
hiring team. I don't even know how to get in touch with you. It sucks and I'm
_very_ sorry about that, but at a big corporation, it's pretty typical,
unfortunately (and that speaks to a lot of other processes that tend towards
being terribly impersonal).

I'd also hate to say it but too often I'd be stuck between 4 adequate
candidates and the decision came down to superficial things. The best advice I
can give you there is: add some superficial things. Get the work mailing
address of the person you interviewed with -- the one who is going to make the
decision. Write a hand-written Thank You letter expressing your desire for the
position. I've gotten _one_ of those in my life, though I've written one every
time. My boss was so impressed by that extra step that I _didn 't_ get to pick
the person I wanted for the job in favor of the other gal. She turned out to
be a fantastic hire, so no hard feelings, but she literally won out because of
a thank-you note.

Edit: To clarify I'm referring to a large corporation, not a startup. Can't
recommend working for a good startup enough, it's been a way better situation
for me.

~~~
designml
I also found that startups are usually more communicative and move more
quickly. The bigger companies go through HR and a lot gets lost in between.
After finishing all the interviews at one company, they told me that they were
interested but will only speed up the process and offer me if I get another
offer which is strange thing to say. I understand they dont have a position
open now but still.

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Bahamut
After interviewing enough, my conclusion has been to not get so enamored with
a particular company. It is just like falling in love with a particular
university, or a particular person on first sight - irrational, and usually
ends up with dashed hopes & missed opportunities from being too single-minded
(and even lower pay).

I have had this experience with big and small companies - one big company gave
the silent treatment during salary negotiations. Some smaller companies have
lost track of the process at various stages. My approach now is to just
mentally tally the companies I am interviewing with and if one falls on the
wayside, I keep it in mind as negative signal for any future interaction with
anyone with an association with the company - the strength of the signal
depends on the size of the company (the larger, the smaller weight) and the
nature of the problem.

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dudul
This is very unprofessional but not uncommon at bigger companies. They just
don't care. First, chances are you were not even interviewing for a real
position, they were just using you to collect data ("who is out there", "what
kind of money do they want", "what are they making now", etc)

Second, why take a chance to get back to you and tell you it wouldn't work
out? You're gonna ask why and what are the gonna say? "Not a good fit"? Even
this made up reason doesn't work anymore, since people start suing for
discrimination.

I've found that this behavior is very rare at small shops and startups since
they care about their reputation and try to not alienate people in their area.

~~~
designml
Startups tend to work faster and schedule things pretty quickly. I found that
the bigger companies are really good at putting people in a limbo and not
bothering that much unless they really want you or if you were referred by
someone at the company.

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smt88
People are rude and their inboxes are full. Use the phone when you follow up
and leave a voicemail. Do this 2 or 3 times and the move on.

Sometimes you'll feel the most hopeless right before a breakthrough. This has
happened with 4 companies, but the 5th might be a perfect fit. Be persistent.

If you do get those companies on the phone, be brave enough to ask them why
they passed. If they don't know, ask they if they can put you in touch with
the interviewer. You can't work on your weaknesses if you don't know what they
are (and people rarely know for sure).

~~~
designml
Yes thanks for the advice. I do hope to follow up with some calls soon.

