Blanked by internal recruiters after "good" interview feedback

Question

Two weeks ago, I attended an interview for a software development position at a large multinational corporation. I did well in the tech test and Skype interview and the internal recruiter I've been dealing with had been very proactive, phoning me and answering my email queries within a couple of hours over a period of two to three weeks.

I drove 300 miles to attend the interview. The recruiter was aware of this and offered reimbursement for travel expenses and hotel fees.

After the interview (which went OK but not brilliantly) there was sudden and total radio silence. I assumed I had not got the job and moved on. Then I got an email from the recruiter:

The feedback from Tim and Rich was that you came across really well, great attitude and personality but felt that you would not get the challenges/technical challenge you want in [Department X], as its very legacy based Javascript and they said your Javascript is very good so wouldn’t want you to feel stifled.

So have recommended you are a great fit for [Company] and possibly some roles in Coventry, in the [Y or Z department]. So I have passed this on, as Tim was very keen to get you in the business but felt that [Department X] was too old tech for what you do.

Please let me know your thoughts.

I emailed back saying that despite the legacy code I was still very interested in the position because of certain factors. I got radio silence again for a few days, so I tried to phone her to discuss the matter. Got no response, so sent an email asking for a phone call. Got an autoresponder that she has gone on holiday as of today and won't be back for a week and to contact Bob while she was away. I sent Bob an email asking for a phone call and got a 'What can I help you with?' email within 5 minutes. I explained the situation and asked if I was outright rejected for the role or not? No reply for two days.

Despite the "your Javascript is very good and wouldn't want you to feel stifled" and the "great fit for [Company]" am I to conclude that they are not that in to me and are just fobbing me off with a lie to excuse themselves perhaps for asking me to make such a long trip to the interview?

Answer 1

If you're still interested in pursuing the job then keep at it, especially if you're hard up for something, but at this point it sounds like you may just need to cut your losses and move on. Unfortunately this may also include travel expenses unless you got anything in writing saying they would pay you back, but even then it may not be a guarantee that you'll be reimbursed those costs.

There are good recruiters out there, but unfortunately plenty of them can be very lax or just uncaring in proper followup. Maybe they're just not on top of things the way they should be, maybe you're just not a big priority for them, who knows? Unfortunately there isn't much you can do about it other than to move on and not work with them going forward.

I went on an interview for one three years ago, and the recruiter who set everything up ended up landing a gig in another state and just dropped everything, so I literally never received feedback on that interview. The recruiter had even given me a contingent offer, and anyone from their office who called me weeks later made no mention of either this interview or the contingent offer, so I've since refused to entertain anyone from that recruiting firm.

Answer 2

Consider that you're possibly being told the unvarnished truth. You're approaching it from "I want to work for this company" but they're approaching it from, "we want someone who won't leave when something better comes along." I know you've said that you're still interested and are basically disagreeing with their notion that you won't be happy but let's be fair. You honestly can't say that you'll find the job fulfilling. You honestly can't say that after 6 months of this you won't be thinking "wow, they weren't kidding".

For whatever reason, they see you as someone who needs to be challenged to be happy. Most of us do. It takes a certain kind of individual to maintain legacy code and be happy and content with not learning new skills all of the time. That's actually harder to find than a so-called "rockstar".

I don't agree with the comments that suggest they're trying to find another way to say no without saying no. When you're in HR, you say no all the time and there are a plethora of phrases to vaguely do so such as saying, "we don't think you would be a good cultural fit" which is completely unchallengeable. I believe you were being told the truth.

After a rejection like that, there's really nothing you should do except thank them and move on. You'll be hard pressed to ever find someone who says, "We rejected this one candidate but after he reassured us we were wrong, we decided to hire him." All you've done by pressing forward is risk burning a bridge should you ever come across the HR person again.

In other words, just let it go.