I have had lots of job interviews. Mostly because I am curious about companies, and how they treat potential workers says everything about their values.
Most of the time job interviewers try to be honest and do what they feel is helpful. The scientific truth is that job interviews are not effective ways to find people, and its highly subjective even with a standardized list of questions.
Which is fine. One of the things that I have noticed is that the more job interviews you do, the more you see very quickly companies that you don’t want to work for.
The answer is you have to be open, honest and not afraid to say no. I recently had an interview where the recruiter who talked to me saw a few keywords and thought I would be a good fit for the job. I also filter recruiters and almost 99% of them I don’t want to engage with. Not because they are bad people, but the company isn’t one I wish to work with.
Companies that have below a 3.5 on Glassdoor are terrible to work in. I have worked in many companies that were toxic or had other issues, and so I have learned from my mistakes. If you don’t feel good during the interview process, and even if you do feel good, it may not be the right fit.
I have had interviews give me good feelings during the interview process and the company was terrible to work at. This isn’t just about having the skills, but feeling that you are respected and valued. When a recruiter comes at you with a insulting low offer and not normal in your skill level and posted job salary range, you don’t feel respected. When a recruiter makes an interview with you and then cancels it last minute, that is a nope as well. Continually recruiters feel they have pretty privilege. They can act however they want and people are so desperate for jobs they will take anything. If you act desperate they won’t hire you.
At times I have sensed that the recruiter/interviewer didn’t think I had the skills to do the job. In those cases you have to address the elephant in the room. I say something like “It seems that you don’t feel that I have the skills for this position. That is fine. Thank you for your time.” Usually they will be surprised and try to back peddle. I don’t think that interviewers know how to deal with honesty. I give honesty all of the time couched in kindness. You can be honest and cruel and that serves no purpose.
What happens when I say the above? It is 50/50 to get the job. However in the past it was always a rejection if you couldn’t speak to their trust that you can do the job.
Now interestingly interviewers will say that they think you can do the job if you ask them. I ask at the end “Have I said anything that have made you doubt my ability to do the job?” Usually they will say that I could do the job. Which is fine. You can have the skills to do something, but for whatever reason they still may not like you.
The bottom line here is that job interviews are like dating. You don’t have to prove you are worthy and a good person. If they can’t see what is obvious, they are probably too stupid for you to deal with.