Turn Down a Job Interview?
It’s not unusual for job seekers to tell me that they were called to interview for a position, however, they passed on the opportunity because they…
– didn’t like the company
– thought it was too far to commute
– thought the job wasn’t a great fit for their experience
– didn’t think it would pay an acceptable compensation level
– heard some bad things about the culture
– …or any number of other objections
Is it a good idea to turn down a job interview when you don’t think you would accept a job?
NO!
Here are some things to consider…
There’s no better practice than “live fire”!
One consistent message you hear regarding your job search is “be prepared”. Prepare how you’ll answer interview questions and practice, practice, practice! While practicing mock interviews on your own or with friends and family is good… there’s no substitute for a real interview. When you’re in front of a real potential employer, responding to their questions and wanting to make the best impression, you realize quickly the areas you need to improve. Each interview makes you a little bit better. The more real interviews you can take, prepares you to be your best when you’re in front of an employer you REALLY want to work for.
You don’t know what you don’t know!
Job seekers often make all kinds of judgments about companies and jobs without getting all the facts. The job interview process is a two-way street. Not only does the employer need to determine if you’re someone they really want to hire, but you need to determine if this is an organization that’s a good fit for you as well! The commute may seem far, but you don’t know if they might allow you to work from home. You may have heard some negative things about the corporate culture, however, you don’t know if that also applies in the specific group you might be working with. Depending on personality and work style, one person’s Hell may be another person’s Heaven! You don’t know if there are other aspects of the job, company, benefits, manager, co-workers, etc. that may make it a much more attractive place to work than you thought.
Many of the assumptions people make based on partial information are often debunked when they learn more about the organization and the opportunity.
Where there’s smoke, there’s fire!
It’s not unusual for someone to go through multiple interviews with an organization, get to the end of the process, and have the employer say something like…
“We think you’d be a great fit for the company, but we realize this might not be the right job for you. We actually have another position that we think would be a much better fit!”
It’s common that when a company has a position open, they may have other positions open as well. Some that may not be posted yet, some that they’re just starting to think about, and some that might be created on the spot when they see how someone might be an asset to the organization. Assuming the job you’re interviewing for is the only opportunity you’re being considered for is short-sighted. If you don’t proceed in the process of the less-than-desirable position, however, you will never be considered for the highly-desirable role!
You’re not obligated to accept an offer!
Perhaps, after the entire interview process, your initial impressions are confirmed. After finding out all you could about the company and the job you’re still not interested. If they make an offer, you can always, politely and professionally, decline. During a job search, it sure feels good to get an offer, even if you don’t take it and it’s better to have options than having none.
If they don’t make an offer. You’ve gained valuable practice and experience in the process which will make you better for the next opportunity. You’ve also learned more about a new organization that can help you identify things you want to look for and things to avoid as you evaluate other job opportunities. What’s the downside? The experience is always worth your time and effort!
The next time you have an opportunity to interview for an opportunity that doesn’t sound appealing on the surface… take the interview anyway. You’ll benefit from the process and there may be a great surprise at the end!
About The Author
Harry Urschel
Harry Urschel has over 20 years experience as a technology recruiter in Minnesota. He currently operates as e-Executives, writes a blog for Job Seekers called The Wise Job Search, and can be found on Twitter as @eExecutives.
So what should you exclude from your resume? Well, the first thing that you should exclude is job history that’s more than 15 years old. If you are an older worker you don’t want to put job history that’s old and give away your age which can sometimes serve as a disadvantage. In your 15 years of experience what you want to do is highlight those experiences that are relevant to your work.
So if you happen to have a part time job as a bartender, but you work as a nurse on your nursing resume you don’t necessarily have to list your bartender experience except as a hobby or a interest. Or if you are looking at managing reams of people and you’re not going to be doing any sales work and you have past sales experience you can play down that past experience in your resume and highlight the management experience that you do have.
Basically, take a look at the job descriptions at the jobs you are after and highlight all the relevant experiences for that position. And all the other experiences that aren’t relevant you can either remove them or reduce the amount of content on there so they become less attention grabbing in your resume.
Is it a good idea to turn down a job interview for a job that you are not especially interested in taking? The answer is yes and no. If you are never interested in working for that organization even in a different role, then I would recommend that you turn down the job interview. If you feel like the organization isn’t a good fit for you and the job isn’t a good fit for you, definitely turn it down.
What if you feel like this job isn’t exactly right for you, but meeting people at this organization would be a great networking value for you, because you are interested in other positions there in the future, then you may want to come in and interview anyway. You can interview and present yourself well for this job, but also during the interview express your interests in other positions and how you add value for those positions as well.
And by doing that, you at least get a practice interview on the one hand and on the other hand, you build your network inside an organization. So hopefully what you can do is if a better fitting position comes later on, you’ll be able to reach out to your interviewers and follow up and get an inside tract on this other certain position.