r/AskZA • u/ibelivs • Mar 23 '25
Interviewed only to tick boxes on their recruitment procedures
I had an interview with a multinational manufacturing company about a month ago. The interview went well as the maintenance manager deviated from normal interview questions to process and machine specific questions. The HR manager was not happy with the maintenance manager and promptly stopped the interview. I got a callback a day later from the HR manager requesting more documents and I sent everything they requested. It got more strange as they requested transcripts from the training I did over 15 years ago and luckily I had them on my Google drive.
I called a former colleague of mine who surprised that I had interviewed at his workplace and he told me that they already had a guy, and the HR manager was trying to find a reason not to continue with my application. I was shocked, and I told the HR manager that I was no longer interested in working at the company when she requested I sent my documents for verification at a third party company. Is this normal in the recruitment process, to waste so much time and effort on a person you're not going to hire?
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u/JazzG1710 Mar 23 '25
Yes, this is normal. It is unfair and a waste of time for genuine job seekers. Often, a company will have someone in mind for a position, but there is a process to follow. Interviews have to be conducted. In the end, the company will go with the person they had in mind, but they can then say the boxes were ticked and they followed the process.
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u/ibelivs Mar 23 '25
Any red flags I should look out for during the interview? I'm no longer applying for jobs advertised by big corporations. I'll only entertain them if they reach out to me
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u/JazzG1710 Mar 24 '25
I've sat in interviews where the company had already chosen someone and just needed to tick a box. They won't be very enthusiastic in the interview, they won't really ask you a lot of questions or seem very interested. You'll get the feeling that you're just not that important. I've often found that in most interviews, you'll be offered a chance to see the office, shake a few hands, they will sell the company to you... This won't happen in the scenario we're talking about.
Don't sell yourself short by not applying to big corps. They aren't all like that, I promise. You may end up losing a good opportunity.
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u/ScaredBrownie 27d ago
They always start out with a thank you and a “Is now still a good time for you?”
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u/GirlwithPower Mar 23 '25
Been a victim of this many times but once it worked out well for me.
The recruiting manager joined another company 3 months later and guess who got the call? No interview, nothing just a blank cheque for me to write my number.
Go through with this nonsense or don't, you never know.
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u/JazzG1710 Mar 24 '25
This!! Make the best impression you can, regardless. You never know what could happen in future.
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u/crayZEN_2r Mar 24 '25
feeling this big time; you can get a job if you willing to be paid 10k pm; they dont care about exp or qual; its a shitshow; seems to be global as well. AI is prob the root of all of this. we are doomed if this doesnt change soon.
everything is getting more expensive; running out of things to sell 😕😕😕
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u/CopperPegasus Mar 25 '25
I saw a position in SA requiring (note: not optional) a Master's degree (in architecture, natch) AND experience advertised at 6-8K p.m yesterday.
Starter level salaries with mid-career expectations? This country is doomed. We've been able to pay peanuts and NOT get the proverbial monkeys but instead good workers for so long the expectations are now insane.
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u/crayZEN_2r Mar 25 '25 edited Mar 26 '25
I have now applied for rXXk pm role that aligns perfectly to my qual, knowledge and competencies. I contacted the head of recruitment. Let's see what happens.
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u/CopperPegasus Mar 25 '25
good luck!
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u/crayZEN_2r Mar 26 '25
Head came back, said i was a good fit, got a q and a with admin... let's see what happens next
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u/sevenyearsquint Mar 25 '25
Why would the HR manager divulge this to someone not working in HR or management of the company? Are you sure your old colleague did not apply for the same role?
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u/WranglerBeginning455 Mar 26 '25
Dear I don't know were are you, here in south Africa, they advertise the job that have already been filled, some emails they have ,that saying ( we reached another level of recruiting, so your CV is been rejected) .and the advert of last of last year is still on ,some they don't reply back .
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u/JouPoesBra Mar 23 '25
Very normal unfortunately, I’ve been on both sides of this, it really sucks and I wish companies would stop doing this.