‘You had very little questions’: Candidate rejected after 2-hour long in-person interview; Reddit post sparks debate

A candidate looking for a job shared his in-person interview experience where a company rejected the interviewee after they failed to ask more questions about the firm, according to a social media post on Reddit.

The social media community account ‘r/recruitinghell’ on Reddit shared this incident on Wednesday, March 19. The post also highlighted that the interviewers felt that the candidate was not showing much interest in the job after the person failed to ask more questions and provide enough details about their experience so far.

“We won’t be proceeding at this time. While the homework was satisfactory and you did seem motivated and eager to learn. You had very little questions about the company and the interviewers didn’t feel a lot of interest from your side and also couldn’t provide enough detail about your experience so far, only on a very high level,” according to the Reddit post.

The company allegedly attributed this rejection to the nervousness of the candidate and the person's performance during the interview.

“Some parts could obviously be attributed to nerves, but the interview performance was not strong enough for us to be confident in hiring you,” said the company wishing the employee luck for an opportunity elsewhere, as per the Reddit post.

According to the post, the interview lasted for nearly two hours. Unlike other web interviews, the candidate was asked to speak to the interviewers in person.

“Am I the only one who can never think of a question in the middle of an interview?” questioned the candidate who was rejected from the offer.

The candidate also acknowledged his nervousness during the interview and said that they had not eaten over 12 hours ahead of the interaction.

“Also, for the record, I am not not diabetic. It was a freak thing for the low blood sugar thing to happen. I hadn't eaten in over 12 hours before the interview, which was a horrible mistake. I am kicking myself. I feel horrible that I probably blew another chance. It's frustrating that I know I could probably do the job, but I just blow it,” said the candidate as per the post.

Netizens React

People on the social media platform also shared their take on this incident, and many of them suggested some tips and tricks for projecting a better image in front of recruiters.

“That’s why you think of some generic questions before the interview to ask them. That’s also an interestingly personal rejection email, usually it’s just ‘thanks, but no thanks’, then gets ghosted if we ask for feedback,” said a social media user account named Castyourspellwisely on Reddit.

Another user named jokoy1776 shared their “go-to question” to ask the recruiters during the interview.

“My go to question was ‘could you describe what a normal week would look like?’ I was able to get a ton of information about the position expectations and culture with this one,” they said.

Amongst the many suggesting good tips and tricks to crack interviews, an account named S101custom explained the recruiters point of view which the candidates need to take into account before stepping in for an interview.

“Lack of questions is interpreted as disengaged. Employers are invested in getting the right candidate and they expect applicants to share the gravity of that decision - not having questions is an indicator of you not having done appropriate research or having not treated the process seriously,” they said.

Lack of questions is interpreted as disengaged. Employers are invested in getting the right candidate and they expect applicants to share the gravity of that decision - not having questions is an indicator of you not having done appropriate research or having not treated the process seriously.