should employers pay candidates for their time in the interview process? by Alison Green on November 23, 2021 A reader writes: I just saw a job ad which includes: “We didn’t want to take our applicants’ time for granted, even though we are a small publicly supported organization. Because of this, we decided to pay each our five finalists $500 to proceed with the rest of the interview. While $500 is not a […] Read the full article →
a candidate told a random lie and doubled-down when we asked about it by Alison Green on November 18, 2021 A reader writes: We recently interviewed a very strong candidate in a role we’d like to fill asap. His interview went very well, and at the end he mentioned that it was his first ever Zoom interview. He told us that he had been nervous about the format, but the fact that we were so […] Read the full article →
is there any point in “courtesy interviews”? by Alison Green on November 10, 2021 A reader writes: What is your opinion on “courtesy interviews”? Specifically, interviews for the sake of appeasing other stakeholders when you have no interest in the candidate? Several of my more senior colleagues have been emailing me about applicants they are referring and encouraging me to interview them. After looking at their applications (and comparing […] Read the full article →
employers shouldn’t use video for short first-round interviews by Alison Green on November 9, 2021 A reader writes: I wanted to share an interview experience I had yesterday, which connects to a suggestion or request I have for hiring managers. One of the most annoying things about the way Covid has changed the workforce, at least to me, is the fact that now hiring managers seem to want to skip […] Read the full article →
I think a job candidate is lying about his work experience by Alison Green on November 8, 2021 A reader writes: Someone has applied for a position with me. In looking at his LinkedIn profile, he claims to have worked on a project with which I am intimately familiar (at a previous company), and I don’t recall his involvement. Should I interview this person? There is a possibility that I simply do not […] Read the full article →
we hired without checking references … and it went badly by Alison Green on November 3, 2021 A reader writes: We recently interviewed some one who seemed okay but I had reservations. We didn’t have many good options, so we asked for her references. She has 10+ years of work history and we could not get in touch with anybody. When we went back to her asking for help, she provided references […] Read the full article →
job seekers are ghosting employers … just like employers have done to them for years by Alison Green on October 25, 2021 In today’s topsy-turvy job market, a strange new thing is happening: Employers are increasingly grumbling about job seekers “ghosting” them. These job candidates just don’t show up for their scheduled interviews. And in some cases, they accept a job only to disappear. Employers don’t like this. But they’ve been doing this to workers for years, […] Read the full article →
our job candidates show up in ultra-casual interview attire by Alison Green on October 18, 2021 A reader writes: I work for a manufacturing company in inside sales/customer service. We support not only the outside sales team but also our customers through phone and email. The job description makes it clear this is an office job. Even pre-Covid, we were seeing most of the candidates we interviewed come in very casual […] Read the full article →
job seekers are ghosting us on interviews and job offers by Alison Green on October 4, 2021 A reader writes: I recently made a slight career change. I went from working at a nonprofit to working for a vendor I often outsourced work to, so the people I manage now do almost the same thing as the people I managed previously. Part of my job is hiring, but I’m having a much […] Read the full article →
can I rescind a job offer on the spot if an applicant seems curt? by Alison Green on August 19, 2021 A reader writes: I recently called an applicant to offer her a customer service position. She responded flatly as soon as I introduced myself. (“Oh. Hi.”) I was a little taken aback, but proceeded with the job offer anyway. Her terse reply immediately signaled a complete lack of interest. She said little other than, “Huh. […] Read the full article →