You show up for a job interview at a company you care about. But the interviewer is ill-prepared, ill-mannered or clueless.
Do you take the job anyway if it is offered to you?
I would take a job if I liked the position, the upside and the company. That is, assuming that the interviewer I disliked isn’t going to be my boss or his boss. But that puts me in the minority. Two-thirds of respondents to a survey of 6,000 staffing directors, hiring managers and job seekers, conducted by Development Dimensions International, a consulting firm, and Monster Worldwide, say they wouldn’t take the job. They would sooner walk away.
Would you say that these job seekers sound a bit brittle? If you’re called in for four or five or six interviews, aren’t you bound to dislike one or two of them? Unless you’re interviewing for a senior position, expect that one or two interviewers will go through the motions or be distracted by a pressing appointment.
Job seekers are vexed by aloof interviewers, according to the study. And they are irritated by these other interview behaviors, too:
- Withholding information about the position (57%)
- Turning interview into cross-examination (51%)
- Showing up late (48%)
- Appearing unprepared for interview (47%)
- Asking questions unrelated to job skills (43%).
Still, if every interviewer puts on a show and no one asks tough questions, that’s a sign of desperation. On the whole, it’s very satisfying to convince an interviewer that you’re right for a job, assuming that they meet you half way and reinforce why you belong there.
Would you overlook a bad interviewer or blow off the opportunity?
I have often referred to an interview as an interrogation. The goal for the Candidate and Hiring Manager is to turn the interview into a conversation within which the Hiring Manager and the Candidate discuss the candidate’s “fit” with the positioon. This takes a lot of preparation by the Candidate (right away setting a tone of motivation and interest)and the application of good interviewing skills by the Hiring Manager. As indicated in the blog, the first step toward an interview presentation may just be the discarding of bad interview habits by the Hiring Managers.
My biggest issue is when the interviewer is late. I have to make a promise to be on time to work, you should probably set an example.
However, if the opportunity is one that fits me well, I am fairly willing to overlook a bad interview. Unless, like you, the interviewer would be my boss and they really blew it.