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Maybe some people need to hear this though? About a month ago I had this happen: -Explained full interview process during the phase 1 call (15 min call, round

Maybe some people need to hear this though? About a month ago I had this happen: -Explained full interview process during the phase 1 call (15 min call, round table, and lastly a take-home code challenge) -they were cool with all this -they get to the end of phase II, after an hour long call with a bunch of people, and passed it/went great -they then surprised us by refusing phase III/the take home test As an employer I try to set expectations early, they acknowledged it and then proceeded to get upset when we did what we said we were going to do.

jrootabega 4y ago
Were they actually upset? Maybe the impression that things went great was really just that the candidate was diplomatic, and they were just waiting for the next excuse to exit the process. I've had phone interviews with some really bad interviewers that should have been a sign that the company may not have been a good place to work.
- darkerside 4y ago
  This seems most likely. Also, why would you do a round table before a take home? Do you not value the time of your people?
  - marcosdumay 4y ago
    Maybe because they respect the candidate's time.
    - darkerside 4y ago
      Then you don't do an exam at all
- newZWhoDis 4y ago
  They were pretty rude when they declined. I mean they made it through Phase 2 and sorta 2.5 where we confirm salary and they accepted. Everything seemed on track until the test was mentioned. If they ghosted us after the round table interview then sure, but why come back and accept a salary just to bail at the last step?
  - JohnFen 4y ago
    If there were a significant percentage of applicants behaving this way, that's a signal that something may have gone terribly wrong during the interviewing process that is causing the applicants to be upset. If it were my company, I'd be taking a cold, hard look at that process to be sure that it's OK. Perhaps it's not really going as well as it seems.
  - plorkyeran 4y ago
    Talking salary in between interview steps is kinda weird. Sometimes you discuss salary ranges at the start to make sure you're not completely misaligned, but otherwise it's something that normally comes at the very end when you're decided you want to hire the person and are making a concrete offer. I suspect that your messaging during phase 2.5 is bad and you're misleading candidates into thinking that you've decided to hire them, and then when you follow that up with a take home they conclude that you're fucking with them or a disorganized mess.
- JohnFen 4y ago
  Not saying this is the case with this particular company, but I've seen a lot of companies that don't realize that an interview is a two-way street, and the applicants are (or should be!) assessing the suitability of the employer just as much as the employer is assessing the suitability of the applicants.
rsynnott 4y ago
This sounds like it perhaps phase II didn't go as well as you thought it did.
danwee 4y ago
Why do you do the take home test at the end? Seems odd. Take home tests are used because it saves time to the company, so you do it first. If the candidates passes the test, then the "real" interviews starts. By doing it at the end, you are just telling the candidate "Oh, you are good. You passed phase I and phase II... but that's not enough you poor candidate!".
- newZWhoDis 4y ago
  The cost to us to review the take home test is rather high, we don’t want to frontload that.
- JohnFen 4y ago
  > Take home tests are used because it saves time to the company, so you do it first. Every time I've been presented with a take-home test, it was done this way. I'm genuinely surprised to hear that some companies do this at the end.
paxys 4y ago
Interviewing is a two way street. It's perfectly likely that they did the two phases of interviews, met with everyone on the team, and decided the company wasn't right for them. Or a better offer came along.
roflyear 4y ago
What was the take home?
yongjik 4y ago
It could happen simply because the candidate was also interviewing other companies (because who interviews just one company these days) and they got an offer from their preferred company. Basically, assume that candidates can drop at any time.
edmundsauto 4y ago
That sounds reasonable, I could see someone (younger me) going through phase II to get a better sense of the company before investing actual brain cycles on a takehome test. Given the power imbalance between hirers and hirees, it doesn't feel remotely unethical to me - hirers are paid to do that, hirees are not. Only way an individual has at times is to lie. I have gotten the question, "if we give you this offer, will you accept it?" and the rational option is to say yes, then make up my mind. Nothing is binding until it is signed, and even then it can easily be rescinded by either side.

jrootabega 4y ago

Were they actually upset? Maybe the impression that things went great was really just that the candidate was diplomatic, and they were just waiting for the next excuse to exit the process. I've had phone interviews with some really bad interviewers that should have been a sign that the company may not have been a good place to work.

darkerside 4y ago
This seems most likely. Also, why would you do a round table before a take home? Do you not value the time of your people?
- marcosdumay 4y ago
  Maybe because they respect the candidate's time.
  - darkerside 4y ago
    Then you don't do an exam at all
newZWhoDis 4y ago
They were pretty rude when they declined. I mean they made it through Phase 2 and sorta 2.5 where we confirm salary and they accepted. Everything seemed on track until the test was mentioned. If they ghosted us after the round table interview then sure, but why come back and accept a salary just to bail at the last step?
- JohnFen 4y ago
  If there were a significant percentage of applicants behaving this way, that's a signal that something may have gone terribly wrong during the interviewing process that is causing the applicants to be upset. If it were my company, I'd be taking a cold, hard look at that process to be sure that it's OK. Perhaps it's not really going as well as it seems.
- plorkyeran 4y ago
  Talking salary in between interview steps is kinda weird. Sometimes you discuss salary ranges at the start to make sure you're not completely misaligned, but otherwise it's something that normally comes at the very end when you're decided you want to hire the person and are making a concrete offer. I suspect that your messaging during phase 2.5 is bad and you're misleading candidates into thinking that you've decided to hire them, and then when you follow that up with a take home they conclude that you're fucking with them or a disorganized mess.
JohnFen 4y ago
Not saying this is the case with this particular company, but I've seen a lot of companies that don't realize that an interview is a two-way street, and the applicants are (or should be!) assessing the suitability of the employer just as much as the employer is assessing the suitability of the applicants.

rsynnott 4y ago

This sounds like it perhaps phase II didn't go as well as you thought it did.

danwee 4y ago

Why do you do the take home test at the end? Seems odd. Take home tests are used because it saves time to the company, so you do it first. If the candidates passes the test, then the "real" interviews starts. By doing it at the end, you are just telling the candidate "Oh, you are good. You passed phase I and phase II... but that's not enough you poor candidate!".

newZWhoDis 4y ago
The cost to us to review the take home test is rather high, we don’t want to frontload that.
JohnFen 4y ago
> Take home tests are used because it saves time to the company, so you do it first. Every time I've been presented with a take-home test, it was done this way. I'm genuinely surprised to hear that some companies do this at the end.

paxys 4y ago

Interviewing is a two way street. It's perfectly likely that they did the two phases of interviews, met with everyone on the team, and decided the company wasn't right for them. Or a better offer came along.

roflyear 4y ago

What was the take home?

yongjik 4y ago

It could happen simply because the candidate was also interviewing other companies (because who interviews just one company these days) and they got an offer from their preferred company. Basically, assume that candidates can drop at any time.

edmundsauto 4y ago

That sounds reasonable, I could see someone (younger me) going through phase II to get a better sense of the company before investing actual brain cycles on a takehome test. Given the power imbalance between hirers and hirees, it doesn't feel remotely unethical to me - hirers are paid to do that, hirees are not. Only way an individual has at times is to lie. I have gotten the question, "if we give you this offer, will you accept it?" and the rational option is to say yes, then make up my mind. Nothing is binding until it is signed, and even then it can easily be rescinded by either side.