"The other person didn't do so well so we want to interview someone else"

Jonathan_Powell

That was the response I got yesterday from a final interview. I got to the final stage, from my perspective done well in the final interview and then the manager calls me. She said that it was between me and another candidate and it didn't go too well for that candidate so they want to interview someone else so it's a "level playing field".

Has anyone heard of this before? 

Thrugelmir

Sometimes there aren't "ideal" candidates for a role. Depends on precisely what the organisation is looking for. 

TELLIT01

Makes absolutely no sense to me.  They have 2 candidates shortlisted.  1 doesn't do well at final interview so I would have thought that simply increases candidate 2's chances of landing the job.  What happens if "Someone else" doesn't interview well?  Do they find a new "Someone else" until they get one they prefer to the OP?

lincroft1710

I think you may not be quite what they're looking for, so want to interview someone else. However if they're no better than you, you might be offered the job.

AW618

Essentially they will take you if they have to, but they think there's a good chance they might like this other person more.  They may have applied late, or something.  If they thought you were perfect, obvioulsy they wouldn't do this.  Pay no attention at all to the reasons she is giving; she is only saying that because she can't say "We thought you were ok but we want to try someone else."

Fireflyaway

Sounds like a bit of over sharing to me! I've been in a similar situation where I have interviewed someone and offered them the job. They declined to accept it so we offered it to the next best candidate. We didn't tell the second best person that they were a back up. Perhaps they have a threshold. Maybe a candidate needs to score a certain number of points before they can be offered the role and although you were the closest of the two you were not close enough. Probably there isn't any point over thinking it. Could be any number of reasons and you will find out eventually. 

Jonathan_Powell

lincroft1710 said:

I think you may not be quite what they're looking for, so want to interview someone else. However if they're no better than you, you might be offered the job.

And that's exactly how it comes across, in a way it's even worst than simply being told no as it's quite insulting. I've posted a few times about this company and how everything they're doing so far does not leave the best impression. I asked the recruiter to give me some feedback off the record and he said my business plan and interview was very strong but the only thing was lacking experience in a certain area (or more accurately, a certain method). They are for one completing misunderstanding my skill set which I struggle to see how that's possible as I even sent them additional documents detailing it, and also they must be going by some stupidly rigid tick sheet.

Literally, it's like saying to someone you have all the skills but haven't used Sales Force so we're going to interview someone else, like it's a struggle for someone to get their heard around a CRM system. I even identified companies they have tried and failed to work with which I have contacts and have done business with. 

Marvel1

Keep job hunting I say, think it's their weird way of saying "we are looking for someone better than you".

oh_really

Wait for them to come back with an offer then tell them to ram it.

Dox

Jonathan_Powell said:

That was the response I got yesterday from a final interview. I got to the final stage, from my perspective done well in the final interview and then the manager calls me. She said that it was between me and another candidate and it didn't go too well for that candidate so they want to interview someone else so it's a "level playing field".

Can you really not read between the lines here? They are hoping to find someone who, for whatever reason, is 'better suited' than you are to whatever vision of the ideal candidate they have, but they are keeping their options open in case you're the closest thing they can find.

In your shoes, what would really worry me is whether the company might reluctantly appoint you but carry on looking after you've started, and then show you the door when they happily think they've got the person they would have preferred in the first place.

Instead of posting here, I'd be job hunting instead of putting up with this nonsense.

newlywed

I had similar... went for an interview with the inside knowledge that all other candidates had dropped out... at the end they told me they were interviewing more people next week so might be a little while to get back to me. I just nodded and said of course.

Really wasn’t feeling it anyway so was pretty happy they didn’t think I was quite good enough for their job!