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Austrian resident here, checking in. I have yet to see this heinous practice in the Austrian job market, but I guess ymmv. Every single time [*] I've asked fo

Austrian resident here, checking in. I have yet to see this heinous practice in the Austrian job market, but I guess ymmv. Every single time [*] I've asked for feedback on the interview process, I've gotten it - including details for why I was not considered for a position. Perhaps you just need to ask. [* - except Qualcomm, I just remembered...]

FirmwareBurner 3y ago
Oh, I have asked, and only got ghosted. Even by Austria's biggest telecom company in Vienna too ;) 90% of the time the feedback is "sorry, we can't move forward because we have better candidates in the pipeline" and asking for details leaves you ghosted. You probably live in a different Austria. Or maybe because I'm a foreigner with dark skin :)
- boffinAudio 3y ago
  Well, I live in Vienna and have never had an issue with getting good feedback on why I didn't pass an interview - except from Qualcomm, who responded "we have no comment on the interview process, we just didn't feel it was a good fit", which actually just made me feel relieved to have not passed their criteria. Never been ghosted, either. So I dunno, our subjective experiences differ. I'm also a foreigner, but maybe our experience levels are just different. What I have found is that Austrian companies will interview you even if they don't intend to hire anyone for the position, and that can be frustrating at times.
  - FirmwareBurner 3y ago
    It could also be the cultural differences between companies that are engineering driven first, versus companies that are primary sales/management/consulting driven first and the engineering part is a distant second. And the likes of QCOM and all these international big-tech pay so much above the low Austrian market rates, that they can afford to treat candidates as disposable commodities as they have virtually unlimited applicants, so it could be a problem of scale besides the culture and liability concerns. >What I have found is that Austrian companies will interview you even if they don't intend to hire anyone for the position But how could you tell they weren't intending to hire anyone when interviewing you? I doubt they straight up told you that. :)
    - boffinAudio 3y ago
      >But how could you tell they weren't intending to hire anyone when interviewing you? I was told after the interview in two cases that they had to finish the interview process, but had a candidate already selected - and that I was 'on hold' in case they didn't accept the offer. I'm not saying Austria isn't without its glib bureaucracies and Kafka'esque recruitment nightmares - just that they are a little more empathetic towards workers than, in my experience (Australia, USA, Japan, UK), that of other nations ..
      - FirmwareBurner 3y ago
        >I was told after the interview in two cases that they had to finish the interview process, but had a candidate already selected - and that I was 'on hold' in case they didn't accept the offer. Ouch, that must hurt knowing you're just the reserve, but to be honest I wouldn't hold a grudge over this, I expect most companies in the world do this, as most candidates also do this with companies when interviewing. It's fair game and you hedge your bets. > just that they are a little more empathetic towards workers than, in my experience (Australia, USA, Japan, UK), that of other nations .. I have no idea what it's like in the US, Asia or Oceania, but compared to most of EU, including the UK, I haven't found any extra empathy to candidates or employees in the Austrian private sector, especially that here employment is basically at-will compared to the rest of EU so you're always an easy scapegoat to find yourself unemployed for some failing of an incompetent manager (and Austrian management is really next level Kafkaesque)

FirmwareBurner 3y ago

Oh, I have asked, and only got ghosted. Even by Austria's biggest telecom company in Vienna too ;) 90% of the time the feedback is "sorry, we can't move forward because we have better candidates in the pipeline" and asking for details leaves you ghosted. You probably live in a different Austria. Or maybe because I'm a foreigner with dark skin :)

boffinAudio 3y ago
Well, I live in Vienna and have never had an issue with getting good feedback on why I didn't pass an interview - except from Qualcomm, who responded "we have no comment on the interview process, we just didn't feel it was a good fit", which actually just made me feel relieved to have not passed their criteria. Never been ghosted, either. So I dunno, our subjective experiences differ. I'm also a foreigner, but maybe our experience levels are just different. What I have found is that Austrian companies will interview you even if they don't intend to hire anyone for the position, and that can be frustrating at times.
- FirmwareBurner 3y ago
  It could also be the cultural differences between companies that are engineering driven first, versus companies that are primary sales/management/consulting driven first and the engineering part is a distant second. And the likes of QCOM and all these international big-tech pay so much above the low Austrian market rates, that they can afford to treat candidates as disposable commodities as they have virtually unlimited applicants, so it could be a problem of scale besides the culture and liability concerns. >What I have found is that Austrian companies will interview you even if they don't intend to hire anyone for the position But how could you tell they weren't intending to hire anyone when interviewing you? I doubt they straight up told you that. :)
  - boffinAudio 3y ago
    >But how could you tell they weren't intending to hire anyone when interviewing you? I was told after the interview in two cases that they had to finish the interview process, but had a candidate already selected - and that I was 'on hold' in case they didn't accept the offer. I'm not saying Austria isn't without its glib bureaucracies and Kafka'esque recruitment nightmares - just that they are a little more empathetic towards workers than, in my experience (Australia, USA, Japan, UK), that of other nations ..
    - FirmwareBurner 3y ago
      >I was told after the interview in two cases that they had to finish the interview process, but had a candidate already selected - and that I was 'on hold' in case they didn't accept the offer. Ouch, that must hurt knowing you're just the reserve, but to be honest I wouldn't hold a grudge over this, I expect most companies in the world do this, as most candidates also do this with companies when interviewing. It's fair game and you hedge your bets. > just that they are a little more empathetic towards workers than, in my experience (Australia, USA, Japan, UK), that of other nations .. I have no idea what it's like in the US, Asia or Oceania, but compared to most of EU, including the UK, I haven't found any extra empathy to candidates or employees in the Austrian private sector, especially that here employment is basically at-will compared to the rest of EU so you're always an easy scapegoat to find yourself unemployed for some failing of an incompetent manager (and Austrian management is really next level Kafkaesque)