Big initial excitement, then phone call with confused interviewer, then canned rejection

Question

Asking for a friend, whom I've known for a long while and am confident would be able to exceed in the role.

Friend applies to large SF Bay Area company for a Sr. Advocate position, with several referrals from within. Gets a very excited email from the recruiter, saying that given my friend's qualifications and experience, they'll skip the phone screen and go straight to a phone interview with the hiring manager (who according to LinkedIn, is new to her role, and is a new manager at the Company), then to the in-person.

I and others coach my friend extensively, the phone call happens, and... the hiring manager starts the call by describing a [wrong position] for the first 5 minutes (my friend had a hard time interrupting over the phone). Then the interviewer apologizes and asks the sort of questions an interviewer asks when they're completely unprepared (been there once, done that, not proud of it). Three questions total, along the lines of "Help me understand your experience at [previous role] / why you're leaving your current position". No questions specific to the role, or my friend's qualifications; no trying to get at whatever in her resume created the initial excitement. After 10 minutes, she runs out of questions, and asks my friend if she has any of her own.

My friend was thrown off by this and didn't make the best of the occasion. Later, she sends an email respectfully suggesting there might have been a mixup because the hiring manager was expecting a candidate for a different position, and makes herself available for another call.

No reply over the holidays, then today she gets a canned email from the initially very excited recruiter that unfortunately they've "decided not to proceed" with her candidacy. No reference at all to the odd call with the hiring manager, even though I know that the company does (claim to) care that interviewees have a good experience interviewing.

My friend is really interested in the position, and qualified for it. What would be the best thing to do to get another shot at it? They've re-listed the position on LinkedIn last week. She and the hiring manager have mutual friends on Facebook but that's probably a questionable avenue to embark on.

Answer 1

What would be the best thing to do to get another shot at it? They've re-listed the position on LinkedIn last week.

If it's re-listed then your friend can re-apply to it by those means.

I'd say your friend can give it a go, perhaps this was all a misunderstanding there was an error during the process. Best case your friend will have a new shot at the interview.

I also strongly suggest your friend considers other options, and starts applying to other positions elsewhere. It's always a good idea not to depend solely on just one opportunity, in case it doesn't work out.

On a more personal note, this whole situation is kind of a red flag. Perhaps not that big, but surely indicates that something on their inner recruiting processes is not quite right. I suggest you keep thin in mind if you see any other red flags in the future.

Answer 2

**HR disorganization isn’t unusual.””

One of my friends worked for an organization which wasn’t consistent about handing out HR assignments. As a result, it was not infrequent for the company to interview someone and get a hire recommendation from the manager but because of vacations and resignations, never follow up on that (or even be aware it happened) and instead assign the task of reviewing resumes from that same job posting to a new HR person.

Just try applying for the position again.