Incorrect answer at interview

Sharlee

Hi

My friend is being made redundant where we work. A post came up within the organisation and she applied, this post was also advertised externally.

She was told that she was not successful and received verbal feedback. She said that the conversation was very one-way and that she felt that she had answered most of the questions correctly but they had chosen to misinterpret her answers.

Now I realise that this is all very subjective but she gave one answer correctly and was told during the feedback that this was wrong. She now has written feedback (via email) and they have slightly changed the question (from the one asked at the interview) but they have still quoted the wrong answer. This was a technical point and the answer cannot be ambiguous at all.

I would argue that if three managers (the interview panel) cannot manage to get a basic fact right, it casts doubt regarding the whole interview process.

The person who did get the job is a former employee and no-one is surprised that she was selected!

Does my friend have any comeback. She hasn't yet answered the email. What should she write? If only to make them squirm!

Regards

SarEl

There is no legal comeback unless she can prove that discrimination (of the unlawful sort) was at play - which I think may be hard since the successful candidate was a woman too. I would suggest forgetting it and moving on. Making your employer squirm may feel good for a second. It may also get your cards marked and the next job that comes up may also not have your name on it.

wantsajob

Sounds very much like a case of the employer trying to claim "we tried to redeploy instead of making redundant" with no real intention of doing so. Unless there is some form of discrimination evident through the feedback (disability, gender, age, sexuality etc) then I can't really imagine there's much that can be done. The other thing is if she was being interviewed for her own job, as the position is clearly not redundant if they subsequently try to get someone else for the same, or a substantively similar, position.

Sharlee

SarEl wrote: »

There is no legal comeback unless she can prove that discrimination (of the unlawful sort) was at play - which I think may be hard since the successful candidate was a woman too. I would suggest forgetting it and moving on. Making your employer squirm may feel good for a second. It may also get your cards marked and the next job that comes up may also not have your name on it.

Thanks for your reply.

I was hoping that there was some legal comeback:(

I do take your point about squirming managers but my friend is in a luckier financial position than most so can be more selective regarding work. She does feel humiliated and wished she'd never applied and the wrong/right answer is the final straw.

But for the record, I make all my managers squirm and still was re- employed after being made redundant

Regards

wantsajob

Sharlee wrote: »

But for the record, I make all my managers squirm and still was re- employed after being made redundant

Most employers make sure they know all the tricks and do their best to ensure they have little or nothing to squirm about. Real Squirm = "oh crap there is a realistic prospect of being taken to court and ordered to pay £ 00000's". I suspect you did nothing other than antagonise slightly for the 2 seconds they read your letter before it was filed in the folder marked BIN

Sambucus_Nigra

Well, if she has nothing to lose - then she could appeal the decision on the point of error and point out your conclusion of incompetence. However, all they would say is that they have retotalled the scoring with that answer being given top marks and she still doesn't meet the top score.

Sharlee

wantsajob wrote: »

Sounds very much like a case of the employer trying to claim "we tried to redeploy instead of making redundant" with no real intention of doing so. Unless there is some form of discrimination evident through the feedback (disability, gender, age, sexuality etc) then I can't really imagine there's much that can be done. The other thing is if she was being interviewed for her own job, as the position is clearly not redundant if they subsequently try to get someone else for the same, or a substantively similar, position.

They have not entered the redundancy period as yet. Hence why the post was made available externally. But, yes, she has previously done the job, providing cover when someone else went off on long-term sick. And, ironically, the person who now has the job is the person that shared that cover.

She feels especially aggrieved as she was good enough to do the job to get them out of a hole when it suited but now is obviously not the preferred candidate.

It has always been my suspicion that often the interview process is not as fair as it should be.

Many thanks for your reply.

Regards

Sambucus_Nigra

Sharlee wrote: »

It has always been my suspicion that often the interview process is not as fair as it should be.

It's not fair and never has been. The employer knows who they want to keep and will make sure the scoring reflects that. When faced with making a certain number of people redundant - you are never going to keep people you don't want. It just doesn't happen.

Sharlee

wantsajob wrote: »

Most employers make sure they know all the tricks and do their best to ensure they have little or nothing to squirm about. Real Squirm = "oh crap there is a realistic prospect of being taken to court and ordered to pay £ 00000's". I suspect you did nothing other than antagonise slightly for the 2 seconds they read your letter before it was filed in the folder marked BIN

Actually it was the former but maybe not so many noughts. But I do like my job and a quiet life.

Regards

Sharlee

Sambucus_Nigra wrote: »

Well, if she has nothing to lose - then she could appeal the decision on the point of error and point out your conclusion of incompetence. However, all they would say is that they have retotalled the scoring with that answer being given top marks and she still doesn't meet the top score.

Yes, they would obviously do that, we know it's a done deal but it seems to be a modern trend that managers are very keen to tell you how to do your job without the relevant knowledge, skills and experience.

Many thanks and regards.

wantsajob

Sambucus_Nigra wrote: »

It's not fair and never has been.

It's why interviews remain popular. How well the person does the job doesn't matter. It's all a popularity contest. Interviews are considered among the worst methods of selecting the best employee.