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Job Seekers Will Walk Away

Posted by Rusty Weston on Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008

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?