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Ive been approached by my old team to become a supervisor my current manager was the one to announce me that they are interested in interviewing me and wanted to see if I was interested. I want to go through the interview process but I don't fully intend on working there and would rather wait to get the same title in my new team ( one of the reason is the old team consists of colleagues who have been my 'friends' for the past 8 years - whereas if I wait I could potentially (not confirmed) get the same promotion and get to be supervisor to people who I don't have a past with)

question is...how do I mention in the interview that I don't really want the job but don't want to make it sound like im wasting the persons time

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    If you aren't interested in the job, you are wasting the person's time. Voting to close as unclear what you're asking.
    – Masked Man
    Commented Oct 24, 2017 at 14:57
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    how does one get interview experience then?
    – nat
    Commented Oct 24, 2017 at 14:58
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    Why do you think you need interview experience? If you need to practice your interview skills, you should have a particular position in mind and then seek out mock interviews to help. Applying to real companies to real jobs to get experience in interviews is a waste of other peoples' time.
    – Thomas Owens
    Commented Oct 24, 2017 at 14:59
  • But by the time you get the position with the new team you will have a past with the new team.
    – paparazzo
    Commented Oct 24, 2017 at 15:00
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    If you are not interested than it is completely unprofessional to do the interview especially if you intend to stay at the company.
    – HLGEM
    Commented Oct 24, 2017 at 15:17

3 Answers 3

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The right thing to do is to not interview if you are 100% against accepting the position, if offered. If the only hold-up is the team, express to your manager that you are indeed interested in supervisor positions, but you are not interested in being a supervisor on that particular team. Going through the interview process and wasting the time of others is unprofessional and will likely hurt you if a supervisor position opens on other teams and you want that position.

If you can possibly be convinced to take the currently open position, work with your manager. Try to work through any concerns that you have and see if anything can be done to resolve them.

Again, though: interviewing and taking up the time of the interviewers for a position that you will absolutely reject is unprofessional and will not help you.

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my question wasn't wether or not I should do the interview...it was more how do I mention that im not 100% interested and that im just looking for whats out there – nat 5 mins ago

Why don't you tell something like this. That you are in a good position in your actual job but you were curious about this possibility and wanted to know more about it. Then if you are not happy just reject the offer

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  • Considering that this is all within the same company and the asker is looking to get into the same position on a different team in a year, I don't think that this is the best course of action. If you have Position X and are interviewing for Position Y in your company and then reject, I believe that it may be harder if Position Y opens again on a different team.
    – Thomas Owens
    Commented Oct 24, 2017 at 15:19
  • normally I would agree but my current manager knows my situation and actually pushed me into the interview for experience... he knows I don't intend on accepting ... I was completely honest with him ...I think that showed loyalty to him and so he mentioned to me that very soon there will be something that could interest me ( position Y)
    – nat
    Commented Oct 24, 2017 at 15:24
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When I was in university and preparing for my transition into the working world, one of the things the Employment Center loved to suggest was an "Information Interview."

Basically, I approach potential employers and convince someone to sit down and answer some questions I have about the company and the job, etc. The idea was to learn about the industry and maybe make some networking connections. I never actually did this, since it seemed intrusive to me, and I lacked the self-confidence to approach "real businessmen" in this fashion, but I think something similar might be applicable in your case.

Don't agree to interview for the position officially, as that implies you're interest in accepting. Instead, ask the person conducting the interviews if you could have a meeting to discuss what this job is like. Make it clear that you're not really interested in moving from your current position, but you're curious to see what's out there and what sorts of opportunities a job like this one would provide. Then, prepare a list of any questions you may have about the position and get them answered.

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  • I thought about this when writing my answer, but then I've never heard of an information(al) interview in the context of applying to a different position in the same organization. It seems like there are other ways to achieve the same goals. And if it's a promotion, it's likely that you work for someone doing the role, so you interact with someone on a regular basis who is doing the job.
    – Thomas Owens
    Commented Oct 24, 2017 at 16:15

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