Have you ever decided to decline an interview?
I’ve had job candidates attend a job interview and then decline to go back for a second one even though the company wanted them back. I don’t see it too often but it has happened.
As a recruiter, you don’t like a person to decline an interview but if it’s not a job the person isn’t interested in and they are never going to accept it, what’s the point?
Before you turn down an interview you of course want to ensure that it really isn’t a job you want.
Having said that, if there is even a remote chance that the company and job might interest you, it can be in your best interest to attend the interview anyways. I’ve seen cases where a person goes to interview for one job and then ends up getting hired for a different position. So if you don’t think you are really interested in the job after the first interview, you could attend the second one to see what transpires and to see if there are other options not yet presented to you.
You might find that in the second interview, something happens that changes your mind in a positive way.
Another case of declining an interview involves where a person agrees to submit their resume to a company and then declines to accept an interview because they either changed their mind or worse, they hear a rumor from a friend about the company that turns them off.
I’ve seen cases where I’m talking to a person about a company and as soon as they find out the name of the company in question, they tell me they aren’t interested. When I ask them why they aren’t interested, they tell me that their friend told them something about the company and it turned them off. Upon further questioning, I realize that the information they were told was incorrect but I simply can’t convince the person otherwise.
I recall one instance where a job searcher didn’t want to interview with a specific company because they’d heard a rumor about the hiring manager that they’d be working for that turned them off. Again, the source of the rumor was one of their friends who knew the hiring manager.
Certainly, people turn down interviews for legitimate reasons and everyone has the right to choose not to be interested in specific companies but when their reasoning is based on incorrect information or unsubstantiated rumors, that’s hard to take.
The best thing you can do is figure out up front which kinds of companies don’t interest you and why. If you aren’t interested – as some people aren’t – in working for a company that produces alcohol or tobacco products or for a company that is involved in gambling services to name a few, it’s best to ensure you are aware of this up front. Big companies can have their hands in many pies and may be involved in businesses that you don’t want to be involved with, even indirectly.
Conversely when it comes to receiving information about a certain company or its staff or business dealings, make sure you consider the source and try your best to get the truth and not simply someone’s biased and possibly incorrect opinion.
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