Should I go to an interview I don't intend to accept the job (if offered)?

Question

In a conversation with a friend, he slipped that he intended to go to an interview for a senior position in software development. I was surprised, since I was under the impression he liked his current job. Imagine my surprise, when after asking him if he wants to leave his job, he said he doesn't intend to. He would only go to an interview to test his skills and get the feedback (albeit only Boolean) about whether he'd get hired for a certain position, though he doesn't really think of accepting an offer from the said company.

On the one hand, I realize this is some very valuable information for a professional.

On the other hand, I have the feeling it's highly unethical and basically it is wasting the time of the interviewer, since I doubt he'd take something from the interview.

How is that regarded in the industry? Is it considered rude and unethical? Or am I in the wrong side in this argument?

Answer 1

It depends on how the interview came about. I have been contacted in the past without me soliciting for the position. They contacted me and invited me to an interview. They had to know that I wasn't ready to leave. The offer wasn't impressive, so I didn't take it.

Another time I was contacted via Monster. It ended up being perfect timing because a few weeks later it became clear that I needed to switch companies.

The person invests time in the process of interviewing, and so does the company. If there is zero chance the employee will switch, that isn't good. But if the employee is open to the possibility if the conditions are right, then there is little to be upset about.

In a typical hiring situation they look at dozens to hundreds of resumes/profiles, and only a small fraction get interviews. And only one at a time gets an offer. It is unlikely that a company will be upset.

Also keep in mind that it can take weeks to months to work your way through the process of applying, filtering, interviewing and getting an offer. Sometimes it is a good thing to do, just for the feedback. One day it will have to be done for real, and the experience gained will be invaluable.

Answer 2

What a strange bunch of answers...unethical

I can't see it being unethical at all. You are giving them a chance to change your mind. That's kind of like saying it's unethical for someone to accept a date with someone they are sure they won't marry.

If you get some interviewing experience out of it, even better.

Answer 3

Should one go to interview for a job he doesn't intend to accept if offered?

Yes, for two reasons:

1. Nobody truly knows ahead of time that they would not accept a position if offered. The equation might change on either side. That awesome job offer from that company in the next town over? Offer rescinded. Stated salary too low for your liking? What if you impress the heck out of them and they sweeten the pot? Or remind you about a perk that you hadn't even considered?
2. Repeat after me: Interviewing experience is invaluable! No matter how much preparation you do, you cannot adequately replicate the environment of a live job interview. Use the opportunity for your own benefit. Even if, as you say, there's a 0% chance of you accepting the offer, the interview experience will help you better prepare when you have to explore the job market next time.

Answer 4

In the byzantine world of government, sometimes there's a valid reason for this. Where I work, there's some people on contract. Due to a hiring freeze, they can't switch those people into normal positions (which come with increased benefits and don't have the need to be renewed every year). At least, not normally.

There's an exception that says they can, if the person is on the "hiring list". You get on the hiring list by being offered a position in the government. So what ends up happening is if you already work for department A and they want to switch you to a full time position, first you need to get an offer for a position from department B. Then you wind up on B's hiring list, and suddenly A can hire you without breaking the freeze.

The result of that is people who have no intention of working for B interviewing for the position, hoping they get an offer because it winds up also being an offer for A.

It's pretty silly, but there it is.

Answer 5

I have worked at several companies that interviewed people they knew they would never hire. They had already made a choice as to who was getting hired but needed to meet the interview quota.

Answer 6

It's unethical as you suspect.

It's also pretty much impossible to stop, detect or do anything about. Which makes it even "more" unethical in my opinion as ethics mean doing the right thing even though doing otherwise is undetectable.

Your friend clearly also lacks discretion or tact ;)

Answer 7

It would be considered rude should one flat-out tell that to the interviewers. However, should one be tactful about it (for example, by claiming that they already accepted another offer), it could be undetectable.

Doing such a thing could be beneficial for a number of reasons - one could hone their interview skills, check how much they are worth (whether they are under or overpaid in their current job), check what the market needs and so forth. At the same time, it could be picked up by one's current employer as looking into leaving a job without giving them a heads up (which could be frowned upon).

So yes, it is unethical, but at the same time it is useful. At the same time, it doesn't differ much from a person looking to potentially switch a job if given a good enough offer. If done right, nobody should have any hard feelings about the practice (even though being deceived).

Answer 8

IMHO - In your friend's situation, it's black and white. He's violating the golden rule. Would he want someone to waste his precious workday practicing their interviewing on him? There are plenty of mentors and people to practice with. You don't need to destroy your reputation with petty behavior.

There is a specific case where it is acceptable... A firm calls you, and asks if you're interested. It is ok to say, "I don't think it's for me, but I'm happy to talk. I may know people in the market." Then you're being honest, and setting expectations. And you should go out of your way to find people to help them.

The hiring world is small. Untrustworthy people eventually hit their limit.

Answer 9

Whether it is unethical or not depends upon his honesty -- has he lied? If he hasn't lied, then, no. Just as the converse, interviewing people to meet a quota, isn't unethical -- in both cases, a decision has been made, but it is not final, after the interview, either could change their mind.

An interview is a crapshoot from both sides, you never really know what the outcome will be. Sometimes you are testing the waters, other times you are desperately swimming for shore, but you never know what will happen next.

Answer 10

Just apply the 1 question ethics test.

Would it be uncomfortable if the truth came out? If yes: Probably unethical

In this case I'd opine that it is more rude than unethical unless you were interviewing in an attempt to pilfer competitive intel on the company.

Answer 11

I see absolutely nothing wrong with the practice. Now, i think that it might be a little off to apply for an interview/accept one you had no plans on taking, but once you accept the interview, then you'd better frakking be there. Intending to accept the final job is not as bad as blowing an interview you scheduled off.

Answer 12

One potential reason to do this is to establish your "market value". Many companies pay based on a "market reference span" which is supposed to reflect what other people in similar positions are making. Many high tech companies do actually exchange their salary data (sometimes through a clearing house), to establish this span.

This is mostly a one-sided determination and the employee has very few way of verifying or checking this info. One way, however, is to go to out and get a real offer letter from someone else. This can be quite valuable in a salary raise or promotion discussion at the current position. It can certainly also backfire so it needs to be thoroughly planned and prepared.

Whether this is ethical or not is an interesting question. First of all, the fact that companies do exchange salary information isn't particularly ethical either, especially since the same companies make sharing salary info a fireable offence for their employees. I would say as long as the interviewing company is initiating the contact and you can (and do) honestly say "I wasn't actively looking but it sounds interesting enough for a closer look", than it seems reasonably fair to me.

Answer 13

One thing to keep in mind, that I haven't seen mentioned, is that the company may well be completely happy to interview that person even if they know the person doesn't think they have any interest in the position. An interview is a chance to sell the interviewee the position. So, if they liked the resume enough to want to talk to the interviewee, they might be totally fine with the "ostensibly uninterested" person coming in, because they want a chance to change that person's mind.

They also "get their name out there"--in the sense that, having gone through the interview process, if the company made a good impression (which is the company's responsibility, of course), then there is one more person in the industry that knows this would be an interesting company to work for. So, all of the interviewee's friends in the industry are now potential contacts for that company, from one interview.

It's very hard to say that it's a waste of time, even if you don't have any intention of leaving. You might change your mind; you might unexpectedly lose the job you are happy with in another month; you might have a friend who would be very interested (once they know what you know, having interviewed).

While I think your ethical question is valid as phrased (to distill it a bit: "if you're completely wasting their time, on a false pretense, to benefit yourself, is that unethical?"), I don't think that the premise--that this is a waste of time for the company--is necessarily a valid one.

Answer 14

Given that a company does not guarantee you a job when it calls you for an interview, objectively and ethically its fine not to join after the interview

However, impact on future relationships with the company is something you should keep in mind

Answer 15

If he's dead set on staying put, then perhaps it's unethical. However, companies have been known to do worse to candidates and employees.

Otherwise, he may pleasantly surprised at what he finds out in the interview, visiting the site, and the offer he ends up getting. In some demographics, this is how people move up. For example, a former coworker of mine got a 6% raise after his performance review. One month back, he interviewed with a different company, just to see what they were about. That other company ended up giving him an offer which would be 50% raise. He likes making more money, and all other variables were more or less even, so he jumped ship. The manager of the current company visited him and tried to get him to stay, saying "we have a lot of business coming in", but a common complaint was they wanted to hold on to good people, but weren't willing to pay them that much.

Otherwise, I don't like to have to take vacation days to interview, but practice does make perfect, and it is a nice change of pace to interview without pressure.

Answer 16

Yes, this is dishonest and thus unethical. By applying to a job, you are stating that you are interested in possibly taking the position. It is clearly unethical if a person lies when asked why he or she is looking to leave his or her current position. An innocent answer like "looking for a change" is a lie if the person really isn't looking for a change. The organization deserves a truthful answer like "not really planning on switching jobs, but I am open to something new if the job is right." It is wrong to use another company's time and resources for your own skills assessment.

There are ways for the hiring company to somewhat lessen situations like this. The organization should at least ask before an interview the intentions of the interviewer. That should filter out some of the people who are not really interested. In my experience, interviewing organizations do not probe enough into why a potential employee wants to switch jobs. Typically a canned answer like "looking for a change" is sufficient for the interviewer to move on.