Job Applicant Rejected After 5 Rounds Of Interviews Claims The Recruiter Admitted They Never Intended To Hire Externally — ‘They're Just Playing Games’
He was disappointed after initially thinking he was guaranteed the job because of how many interviews he went through.
Syda Productions | Canva Pro Job interviews can often be an extremely stressful and challenging process to prepare for. You want to leave a good and lasting impression to show the hiring manager and/or recruiter that you're a good fit for the role and the company. With how the job hunting and interview processes have changed over the last several years, many job seekers are becoming quite tired of the lack of transparency that happens a lot of the time.
Unfortunately, that seemed to be the case for a recent job applicant named Sean Lans, who admitted in a TikTok video that he was feeling confident about landing a job after the 5th interview with the team only to be rejected and told they never intended to hire an outside candidate in the first place.
He was rejected after 5 rounds of interviews after the recruiter admitted they never intended to hire externally.
"A recruiter admitted to me this morning that she had no intention of actually hiring someone for the role," Lans began in his video. He explained that he'd done a final round of interviews and was feeling extremely confident about his chances of being hired and the compatibility between his abilities and a role at this company.
He ended up receiving a call from the recruiter and was immediately sure that it was going to be a job offer after going through 5 rounds of interviews and dedicating both his time and energy to this open position.
However, instead of getting an offer, Lans was shocked to hear that the recruiter was calling to reject him, but before the phone call ended, Lans questioned the recruiter about her decision and asked for constructive criticism about why he ended up not being a good fit.
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"She said something that was [a] red flag. She was like, 'There's not really much else you could've done better. We knew for this role that we needed someone that had a lot of company-specific experience, so it was probably gonna be hard to find an external candidate who had that,'" Lans recalled the recruiter explaining.
Playing Devil's Advocate, Lans pointed out that it was a relatively new and niche company, so it made sense that they would want to hire internally instead of trying to find someone who would be unequipped to handle the role and work at the company.
Lans inquired if the recruiter was able to find an external candidate who fit their requirements, and she admitted that they'd closed down the opening and would refocus their attention on hiring internally instead.
Recruiters should make it their priority to be as transparent with job candidates as they possibly can to avoid debacles like this.
The problem for Lans was that they wasted his time when this recruiter knew all along what she was looking for and the kind of candidate that she wanted to hire.
Instead of being upfront with him about it, Lans was put through multiple rounds of interviews and was passed along despite his resume being a clear indicator that he wasn't the right fit.
If there's one thing that hiring managers and recruiters demand of job candidates is honesty and transparency, then why can't it be reciprocated?
It's not as if hiring internally hasn't become the new normal, especially since the pandemic.
At the peak of the pandemic, internal hiring grew as companies filled workforce gaps with current employees. Internal hiring rates rose to 40% of all hires, up from average historical percentages of about 30%, according to HR Drive.
There's nothing wrong with companies wanting to hire candidates internally. Still, job candidates should know before applying so that they don't waste their time doing rounds of interviews and thinking they're a shoe in.
Nia Tipton is a Chicago-based entertainment, news, and lifestyle writer whose work delves into modern-day issues and experiences.