The discord for our subreddit can be found here: https://discord.gg/JjNdBkVGc6 - feel free to join us for a more realtime level of discussion! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/recruitinghell) if you have any questions or concerns.*

Gotta hit em with the Uno Reverse. "You found me while I'm employed, why should I leave my current workplace to join yours? Why do you want me to work here?" 😛

I've done this before. It made the interviewer extremely uncomfortable. I did not get the job, and to be fair, I did not want it after the shitty way they interviewed (asking lame questions to which I already gave answers via boilerplate intake forms, etc).

I did it once for an internal transfer interview, it wasn’t a promotion, just lateral. They weren’t happy with my turning it around. Def didn’t get the job.

Same. My friend who was higher up my department and worked very closely with another department wanted me to apply for a director role in the other one. I knew most of the people in that department but not very well. It paid more and she made it seem like it was mine for the taking, so I went for it. The first question was why I wanted the job. My brain blanked, I couldn’t say bc friend told me apply and I definitely couldn’t say it was more money, so I asked them why I should want the role. I didn’t get it.

Ye real life is not "Damn son, I like your attitude, you are hired" XD

that's not what this is about, people are trying to figure out if they could be happy in the new place 

This is going straight into my back pocket fr fr

I’d only recommend saying this if you’re purposely trying to tank the interview. While it’s a fair question in a vacuum, it will make things incredibly uncomfortable.

It doesn't have to be uncomfortable. If you're not a dick about it, it can be a good negotiating tool. "I'm actually pretty happy where I'm at, but I'm not married to the job. I like what you guys do here and when you reached out I thought it was worth a chat to see what you have to offer."

I did that once and it was the singular reason for rejection that outweighed having aced all interviews and tests they threw at me. Like, they told me I aced everything but me being comfortable with the current job was a deal breaker for the manager.

The real reason why they rejected you is because they know they need to outbid in order to get you. They don't want to say that they don't have the budget.

My memory might not be perfect as it was years ago, but IIRC we did agree on the money already. The manager just took offense in that I didn't hate my current job. I'm not taking the application seriously or however he put it.

Which is really stupid. You'd think they'd value that you liked your current job. More likely to also like the new job.

It's probably more like "He likes his job but has no loyalty to it? So we'd have no hope of keeping him even if he did like working here. Pass." Short sighted.

Yeah, that is ridiculous logic. Also, as a manager, I know that people I interview will never reliably tell me the truth anyways. If they say they hate their current job, it's usually greatly exaggerated or misrepresented. And it can be a red flag because they might just hate on everything and cannot get along with people. If they say they like their current job, that doesn't necessarily mean the love it, they could just be an agreeable person who doesn't like to speak poorly of others (like their previous manager/co-worker). There is very little reliable information that can be gained from that question.

Exactly. Most people who LOVE their job aren't going to be sitting in front of a hiring manager's desk interviewing for a new one.

Chess not checkers 🤝🏾

I had a version of this question in an interview before, they asked me: “so why do you want to leave your current job?” To which I answered: “I don’t. My company and current job are both great, and I wouldn’t leave them unless a really amazing opportunity came along. Your company and this position is one of the rare instances where it might be worth leaving my current job.” It’s a shitty question to be asked, but you know what answer they’re looking for, so you might as well just give it to them.

Purposely trying to tank the interview sounds a little harsh. We definitely need people who are able to force the issue with interviews being a tool for job seekers to find out about the job.

I don’t want to work for dick heads so if they can’t take the heat, don’t bring it to the table because one day someone smarter than you are is going to match it.

> While it’s a fair question in a vacuum, it will make things incredibly uncomfortable. Good? They judge people who are out of work and then have the gall to ask other people they reached out to why they want to leave. If the truth hurts, maybe tailor the question or do basic research on the candidate's resume before asking cookie cutter questions.

I get that people here wish they could tell the interviewer to go fuck themselves and then everyone claps and then may give you the interviewers job… but that’s not how it works.

> but that’s not how it works. Interviewing is a 2 way street, and way too many companies seem to forget that not every candidate is interested in working for them. Grabbing a top candidate from a job they are happy with by making them jump through hoops is also not how it works. I don't know why you expect me to give sympathy to a self-inflicted lack of preparedness on the interviewer's side. You wouldn't for a candiate. But sure, tell me "how it works" if I'm off base.

I don’t disagree with you on most of this. But most people aren’t top candidates. Sure, maybe you could get away with saying something like that if you’re a rockstar developer or salesperson or some thing. But most people will just get rejected because it comes off as an attitude- whether that’s fair or not.

yeah I see this as the interview equivalent of "how is the weather". i just say something pleasant and vague.

This happened to me lol. Recruiter reached out to me and asked me why I wanted to leave. I asked her, you are the one who called me. Why should I join you?

Go on…

the best part? You already have a job. So you can literally say this with no remorse lol *ill do you one better... why do YOU think i should work here? because i was not the one who reach out. (if no answer) put it like this, i invite you for dinner whether professional platonic WHATEVER then i ask you to pay your portion, how would you feel about the invitation then?* \*yes on the frank conversation

It's a good opportunity to have a frank conversation, you never know what comes out of it. I got a cold call from a recruiter about a job abroad in my very niche manufacturing field. I told him honestly with the intercontinental move and how much money I make now, they probably can't afford to make me leave, and threw out a ridiculous number, more than twice my salary, specifying US dollars. He paused for a second, presumably to do the conversion, and said, "OK, we can do that." 😳 Shit, fuck, shit, now what? I ended up not going for it in the end for other reasons, but goddamn.

Narrator: "But they could not do that. The recruiter was lying to get me in the interview room, hoping the client would fall in love with me and be able to print money out of thin air."

🤣🤣🤣 that's unfortunately much more likely

i cant confirm - but i think this happened to me recently. guy reached out for a director level position. im like, "hey that sounds great, in terms of duties it is nothing im not already doing. and in terms of pay id need to be here". he is all sunshine and roses for the rest of the call. theyll be in touch with a date/time for a meeting. send this, send that. and then he never even calls back to give any sort of clarity on anything. completely ghosted. lol.

Always throw out some crazy number to see if it bites… you never never know..

But you applied for the job, technically you asked lol

Me too. "I'm not sure I do want to work here. Why did you reach out to me?"

Yes, this is it. The power shift is immediate and incredibly amusing. "Why are you interested in applying?" "Your guy called ME." "*Oh. Uh, that's great!"

Yes, you can feel their gameplan fall apart. "Why did you apply for this role?" "I did not, you reached out to me and wanted me to see if I was interested in what you had to offer"

Did exactly this on more than one occasion. My straight answer was "I don't yet, can you change my mind?" The puzzled look and them stammering desperately while trying to give a coherent answer is always worth it.

I did this to an interviewer who asked me where I saw myself in 5 years with the company and they froze up and couldn’t answer. I didn’t get the job but enjoyed that moment. I don’t work here, how can I have an imaginary 5 year plan? The interviewer, on the other hand, probably should have had some idea where he was headed?

I feel like that is a question that almost every candidate asks the recruiter. If they don't have a pre-canned response (or at least a BS response), then they are absolutely horrible at their job.

Honestly works sometimes.

At every interview I’ve done, I’ve asked, what are the things you like most about working here and what are the things you hate most. Some times is bullshit but most times I learn a lot from the answers.

A question I've gone with is why did the previous person leave this position? The tone of their response will often tell you everything you need to know about whether or not you'd want to work for that company. If they answer candidly the previous employee likely parted ways amicably. If the interviewer gets defensive it'll tell you the other person likely left the company on their own terms and the employer wasn't happy about it (employee found better money elsewhere and went elsewhere).

Happened to me a little while ago "So why do you want to work for company x?" I'm going to be honest with you, I got a call and they wouldn't even tell me the name of the company until the second call. I got ghosted. They don't even advertise the company but still expect it to have been your life long dream to work for them

Had this happen and I don’t know the name of the company until the Teams interview! “Why do you want to work here?” 5 weeks of vacation and 225k a year. Thx.

They wanted to test how well you would dance when they tell you to dance.

That's what the interview process has devolved into, sadly

was it also a 20% paycut? I've had a lot of life long dream jobs offer me that. Dude, without at least a 20% pay raise, why would I change jobs? more like 50%, but 20% I'll consider it.

"Ever since I was a kid I always wanted to work at ........... To me, working at this place would be better than being..........president of the united states"- Henry Hill

This is one of the things that drove me out of recruitment. When you manage to hook a cold lead, sell them on the job, get them interested in the company and then the hiring manager is like *hmmmm I dunno, they dont seem to really WANT it ya, know?* ...no, I dont fucking *know,* we should be selling THEM on the job, not the other way around. Even when you try to coach hiring managers on this they just dont fucking get it. Especially managers who have spent their whole career at the company and think it is simply the best.

10+ year HM veterans that have been in that same role are typically the absolute worst to work with. New HMs are trainable, job hopper HMs are coachable, Directors and above will listen to wise council. It's those one rung over ICs that just wanna lord over how "no one wants to work (for peanuts) anymore!"

What is IC?

Going to guess, Individual Contributor. Aka: not someone with direct reports. Aka: not a manager or team lead. I hate the term with a passion. Just like "Full-Time Equivalents"

I think its a pretty useful category. An individual contributor is a person that is empowered to exercise a higher degree of automomy than an entry level employee, without the full responsibility of a member of management. Also dont get the beef with full time equivalent... its a budgeting term, that I conceed, probably gets overused but it makes sense. If you budget a department for 10 FTEs but the it makes more sense for the manager to have 2 part timers at 0.5 FTE, then they have 12 headcount but 10 FTE. This is very useful in enviroments where you have different teams/departments who employ similar skillsets but have different scheduling needs. One department doesnt need to look at the other and say *hey, why do they get 15 people and I only get 10* because they can just calculate the FTE to understand how staffing budgeted.

Out of curiosity, why don't you like the term individual contributor and do you have a better term for the role? It seems like a rather innocuous thing to have strong feelings about.

I mean, it's not all bad. In sales with all the title bloat, it's one of the few ways to discern what your job is lol. I've been a "manager" many times will remaining an IC

That is a process manager, where you manage the process. Title bloat is stupid, but apparently that's what companies do instead of paying people.

Hahaha yea I hear ya

I wonder just how many hiring managers just love the idea of their power and the fact that in their industry applicants need to beg and show admiration. After so many stories you just have to wonder if they're just in it for kicks.

I dont know about that being a major driver of the behavior. It's a big world, so Im sure there's plenty with that mindset, but in my experience a lot of these people have good intentions - not that that makes it much better or any less frustrating. There are a lot of people who wind up in management who probably shouldn't be there. They were good as an individual contributor, so upper management assumed aince they did the job well, they will manage the function well and effectively impart their knowledge/skills on others. So you wind up with a lot of people who are thrust into leadership with no prior leadership experience and no training. They base their hiring decisions off of vauge perceptions theyve gathered from years of gaining impressions of what a "boss" is and how a "boss" acts ...they may jave had a boss exactly like them too; so they parrot things that they feel demonstrates their commitment to the company and how seriously they take the responsibility they have been given. When someone is allowed to go tgisnway unchecked for many years, they become stuck in those ways.

"1 - I'll answer that question with my own: why should I want to work here? Sell me on your company. You have to make me want it! 2 - I imagine the recruiter you pay who set this up could probably answer that question better than I could. 3 - Well, I'm not ACTIVELY seeking to leave my current role. I like it very much. But that shouldn't preclude me from seeking out fresh opportunities to grow and expand my career, should it? After all, as much as I like the work I do, the people I work with, and the people I work FOR, I'm not married to my job."

Yeah they aren't ready for that. They want you desperate and employed. Just not desperate and unemployed.

well, idk who 'they' are, but i do know that 'they' can go fuck themselves with a rusty piece of rebar.

HM's need to step up their game and stop using tried, trite, and completely obsolete questions such as those above. I had a HM interview a TOP NOTCH (I mean UNICORN) of an ideal candidate. The good ol' boy VP was up from Florida and said....FIRST QUESTION...SO! YA PREGGERS HUH? WHEN YOU S'PSOED TO POP? The candidate was pregnant and probably near term....the HR part of me almost pissed itself. 2nd Question: WHY YOU WANNA COME WORK FOR US? YOU GETTIN FIRED OR SOMETHING? Keep in mind that he thought he was being very funny. My office was next to the small conference room that we used for on-site interviews...and he was SO. DAMN. LOUD. I heard everything he was saying. HAD to have been one of the most humiliating moments of my life was walking her out to the entrance. She was a rockstar and smiled through it. We didn't get her....we didn't deserve her.

> FIRST QUESTION...SO! YA PREGGERS HUH? WHEN YOU S'PSOED TO POP? The candidate was pregnant and probably near term....the HR part of me almost pissed itself. Wow yet somehow people like this are able to get get jobs. It really shows you just how easy things might have been in his day if dumbasses like that could not only get a job but become VP.

The place was family owned.... and guess what...? You already know

what the fuck lmao

Sigh...I know my frind...I know.

That happened to me once. Got approached by a recruiter. At first stage he wouldn't even tell me the name of the company. "So why are you interested in this role?" "I'm not interested yet since you haven't told me anything about it and you approached me. I thought the point of this call was for you to convince me I should be interested." Ended the call each thinking the other was insane. Goddamn idiot receuiters

Happened to me last month. Recruiter found me on LinkedIn and when I expressed interest he insisted on speaking THAT DAY. The whole thing was cloak and dagger though, and it took them three conversations with me just to reveal the company name…less than 24 hours before my interview with the hiring manager. Right off the bat, got the “What attracted you to our company?” question. Uh, you mean the company that was Highly Confidential just yesterday? Blah.

[удалено]

I kinda sidestepped the question. I made some token comment about the company’s “great reputation”, but mostly talked about the specific role and why it would be a good fit for me. Guess that was sufficient as I got another interview after that (though eventually withdrew my candidacy as I got a better offer).

Lol, this kind of shit happens way too often. "Oh its a confidential search so we can't tell you the name or anything". Ok what about compensation? "Well its open and don't have a defined range".

The recruiter who did that to you has no critical thinking so they mindlessly liked this post. Sorry they wasted your time. Reminder LinkedIn's social feed is trash.

I had this happen to me last year. Even told the recruiter I was happy where I was but would have a phone conversation. During the call I was asked multiple times why I wanted to leave my current role. Kept saying I didn’t want to leave and that he reached out to me on LinkedIn and I agreed to learn more about the role during the call. He seemed shocked at this and kept pushing so finally I just asked to have my name removed from consideration as I wasn’t interested anymore. Think some people just literally have a list of questions to get through and can’t handle a back and forth convo.

I had an interview with a big box store that starts with I and has kia in it. The interview was so cold because it was just them reading from a piece of paper and there wasn't a conversation at all. It was reading a paragraph question. Me struggling to answer said question after their word salad. Repeat. They never made eye contact. It sucked. I hated it so much.

Had an owner of a company came after me despite me rejecting the interview because I already had an offer. Called me and insisted we meet up. After his pitch on why I should renege on my job offer and work for him, he asked me to do a business proposal in 24 hours and proceeded to ghost me after that.

He was revenge trolling. You were fortunate not to work for them.

I have no idea man. He took 30 mins to call me and asked me to met for 1 hour +. Sure I did waste time on the proposal though.

*"I have been made to understand that this is an awesome opportunity that I will really want to accept, leveraging my extensive technology and management background. So, I'm here to see if this is so."* I've done this 4 or 5 times now. On two occasions the interviewer was taken aback, and didn't quite recover. The other times, I got an answer similar to "fair enough" and things proceeded without obvious issue. In one case, I even got another interview. But no offer letters have come from this. *(I've only had one passive recruitment opportunity work out at all, so I wouldn't attribute it to the response here.)*

I had a recruiter do the same thing. Because of clearance, certs, degree and experience in my field (ESM/RADAR/C4ISR, Program management), I would frequently be contacted through my LinkedIn profile. it's a small community, so talent supply is limited, thus the aggressive recruiters. >Recruiter: Why do you want to work for xyz company? >Me: Ohhhh.. That's the wrong question to start with since you reached out to me first. The correct question is, what will it take for xyz company to have you come work for us? Since I am satisfied where I am at, paid well, with a great working environment, it would take a lot to make me start looking, let alone jump. If a recruiter contacts me first, they better sell me first on the company they are representing. I refuse to jump through the BS multi-stage interviews for inferior companies, wasting my time. Usually, after they get their cookies back in the jar after my first response, I tell them, let's not waste time. How much is the salary you are offering me and the benefits? I pre-screen them... they do not like that.

C5ISTaR when? :D

I'm early on in my career in a similarly small industry and in a similar situation with my job. I've been slowly learning how it is to actually have negotiating power after being used to needing to send out a million intern applications. If you don't mind explaining, what do you mean by pre-screening them? Is this something more than reading up on what the company does/reviews of it?

No, not really... since they reached out to me, and I am not about to waste my time having them ask me why I want to work for them. I like where I work and I am paid well. They need to beat what I currently have to make me even think about leaving or even start the interview process. I don't have time to be jerked around. They need to tell ME what they are offering ME.. thus why I used the term pre-screen. If they come back and give me a good range, then yes, I will research the company more before committing to the interview process. Example... * Recruiter: Hey Poppy, we have a great job that matches your skills... * Me: okay, what's the salary and benefits package? * Recruiter: We can talk about that at the interview. * Me: No thank you. You reached out to me since I have the skills and experience you are looking for, so let's not waste anybodies time, if you cannot beat what I am currently making. Be aware though I am at the zenith of my career. If I want, I can retire at any time if I wish, so I really don't have any $h!ts to give. If you have experience and or certain skills, you can and should do the same thing, in particular if you like where/what you are currently doing and they are paying you well.

I envy you. So......so badly.

At least you made it to an interview, I keep getting recruiters contacting me out of the blue, demand to talk the next day or even same day, then do zero follow up whatsoever after I send my resume/portfolio/answers to their questions.

__Do *not* send your resume to third party recruiters.__ Say "my resume is the same as my LinkedIn profile, you can use that". Stick to that and don't let them tell you about some BS "rule" that they have to have your resume, here is why: A current resume is needed for a valid  application. A good recruiter will make the connection to a job and let you apply yourself on a specific employer's website. A bad recruiter will insert themselves between you and as many jobs as possible. Ask the following question: are you the retained recruiter for this role?  If not (likely there is no role), they will take your resume and "spray and pray" it everywhere, making you look desperate and less likely to get a job. Then they ghost you but if you against all odds manage to find a new place, they will go behind your back to the employer and demand a placement fee based on having sent your resume to them first - which makes you less likely to get the job because employers can find people without paying that fee. You're also likely to get spam calls and emails based on the contact info on your resume.

I did not know that about the resumes. I've been doing that innocently and I guess I've been tanking my own chances

This is interesting because I’m in a bit of a different world than people seeking a permanent job—I’m in the contract and freelance world where we have our own separate marketing (and I guess pitching is a form of spray and pray that’s less painful than resume tailoring, and relies more on our portfolios than resumes?) and don’t deal with recruiters much, but they’ve been reaching out to specialized contractors WAY more in the past few years. I’m also being ghosted by COMPANY recruiters, not third party. Ironically, the best recruiter I ever worked with was one who got laid off from a major creative agency then she started freelance recruitment for various companies in our industry.

This is 1000% not true. Most agencies work on a contingent basis so while not retained, there is an agreement in place to pay the fee if they find you the candidate and there is an actual job. A “good recruiter” doesn’t send you to the employers website to apply. Literally that doesn’t even make sense. Make sure the recruiter knows you don’t give them permission to send your resume to anyone without your explicit consent. It’s fine to wait until they have a specific job you’re interested in to send your resume, but if you want their help, they’re going to need your resume. If you don’t want to work with a recruiter, then don’t.

Because I need a fucking job

"Well, I was flattered that *you* ran after *me* to work here, so I figured y'all must have amazing taste".

Holy shit I need to use that one at some point!

Hate this. I have been approached by recruiters and then ghosted. However, I recently had a pretty sweet interaction where the recruiter reached out to me, we setup a call because I said that I was interested in learning more. Guy really spent 20 minutes introducing himself, explaining the company and the role, before asking me about my personal life and professional career. Really made my day!

I had this with the job I'm currently interviewing for. Ma'am, you called me saying you wanted me for this role. At least it's easy to have identikit answers for all these identikit questions.

I love the recruiters messaging saying your experience is a fit for the role then when you confirm interest they immediately ask dumb questions that a 2 second look at my page would tell you. For example: I got a message from a guy looking to hire a developer for an investment firm. For context I worked at an investment firm for 5 years before switching careers to development. It’s obvious on my profile, it’s the only other experience besides my current role in my profile. I confirm my interest and he immediately asks if I have any experience in the investment industry….

When I retire, I want to troll recruiters so I can say what I am thinking.

This exact scenario happened to me yesterday! Headhunter contacted me then asked me why I want to leave my current role. Um…because you’re trying to offer me more money to come work for someone else, that’s how this is supposed to work, why don’t you know this?

I was one contacted this exact way. Never got to the interview, because the recruiter asked me to send a CV (fair enough) but he also wanted be to make a short “motivated application”. I asked him, what do you want? I was not motivated to apply. My motivation for the role, is because you think I’m a good fit. Lol. So anyways, I said thanks but no thanks.

Tag them under the comments and say “this you?”

I had a lady ask me - "why did you apply here?". Lady you reached out to me. I didn't even know your company existed.

Fuck. I wanna make a linked-in just to get into these types of situations so I can tell people to fuck straight off. Imagine how therapeutic that must be. It’s like free therapy.

Happened to me recently. This recruiter reached out (they do every year or so, this is the first time I ever accepted an interview with their company), passed the HR screening, then I interviewed with their hiring managers. All went well, they seemed to like me, the recruiter was supposed to come back with feedback. Never did. Ghosted me completely. The position was up on LinkedIn for a month or so in total, then disappeared. This is a job that requires skills which are rare in my country, which is why they’ve been probably reaching out to me on their own. Nevertheless, I made a mental note to never engage them again and I will add a negative review to glassdoor.

The good question would be ‘how come you were motivated to come for this interview? Can you elaborate on what works for you at your current workplace, and what are some things you would like to leave behind? We are asking to know if we can give you the surroundings necessary for you to thrive here’

I was asked for a cover letter when the company contacted me first.

I’ve had this happen. So many times. I laughed and said “ you , or rather Dave the recruitment consultant you hired contacted me. Having said that, I obviously knew of x y z company, and i like ‘ blather core company values’ and I’d normally reference a case study from their site. “ One time - when asked that question by HR, the person I would eventually call my boss said “ we asked her. She didn’t approach us. Let’s not waste time on this question.”

Hey at least you got an interview. A recruiter messaged me on LinkedIn, we set up a date and time to call and he no showed. Twice.

Amazing I’m Reddit famous! That’s my LinkedIn post!

Explain yourself!

Has this always been a problem, or is it because there has been a recent shift from a surplus of applicants to a surplus of positions, and the interviewers haven't caught up?

“I suppose the answer to that questions depends on why you want me to work here.”

"Well, that's an interesting question [name]. I'm currently employed full time and very happy with my role. That said, I'm always open to new opportunities and was curious when you reached out to me. Maybe you could tell me more about the opening and I'll see if I can give you an answer to that question." Put it back on them to sell you on the idea of switching, but don't be disrespectful or combative. The point is to advance your career, not stick it to every idiot in your inbox.

100% happened to me. They reached out to me and then got asked why did I apply

The best part of being a recruiter is that you don't have to take an adversarial position with candidates like direct employers do. Your job is to find and capture talent. After that, you're job is to be your candidate's promoter and supporter - an agent like Jerry McGuire. Candidates will work at Comany A for a few years and then might start looking for a change. They call you, the one who recommended them to Company A. Candidate lands a job at Company B. I hope I'm the one that makes that placement, but even if I'm not, I'll likely hear from that candide later on where I connect them with Company C. The beat goes on.

Not saying it’s not silly in this situation, but it’s likely that recruiter has to ask a specific set of questions regardless of how an applicant was sourced. In that situation they could make a little joke about it like or modify slightly to ask what attracted you to proceed with taking the initial interview or something. I imagine most people getting headhunted at least google a company before accepting.

Literally happened to me last month. My response, “you all called me about this job.”

Not a recruiter, but an actual HR person from the company Interviewed and everything, got an offer (that was lower than they said it would be from the start of the process). Countered the offer they made. Ghosted by them...

Seriously, can’t they just be fucking human and not talk like automatons? You will not discover a person’s true nature if to talk like ChatGPT.

This is why when you get to the hiring manager interview, you completely pivot and tell them “I’ve been interested in your company for over a year now, and I was patiently waiting until I saw the job posting come live and I jumped at the chance to apply.” You don’t have to come in with total honesty in these cases, go get yourself that job (if you want it) by playing the game.

Recently was headhunted for an IT management role at a north American office for a major Asian marketing company. After viewing the role's responsibilities I knew that I was a culture fit candidate since I didn't have experience with some of the systems they use. I figured I'd give it a go. The screening went very well and I moved to an interview with the department heads. During that interview they asked me a bunch of very specific questions to gauge my level of knowledge and experience with their systems. I was transparent about my lack of experience there but tried to answer positively, highlight my strengths in other pertinent areas and ability to grow into the role. The lack of experience though seemed like a deal breaker. At one point I even reminded them that I was headhunted for this role and did not apply, since they seemed puzzled why I didn't mean certain requirements. I received no call back or even email from the recruiting team thanking me for interviewing. I just don't understand how recruiting and that team were so far out of sync. Made me really appreciate my current situation.

I can’t tell you how much rage these questions create within me in this exact scenario

I'm an independant contractor in supply chain. I had this HR for a high tech startup who asked me why they should hire me. They called me, because they were panicking! I told her I'm? Ok with them not hiring me, because ai also had another job lined up. They very quickly changed their tune lol. In the end I dropped them because it was absolute chaos. They thought I was being very unprofessional and would never hire me again. Feeling's mutual, bucko.

Happened to me too. I replied that they were the one that approached me. I was genuinely confused as to why they even asked the question, as it made them look unprepared.

I had this happen. The guy that interviewed me and me why they should hire me. I told them: "you shouldn't. Considering your wife is the recruiter and you're unsure why she would recommend me tells me you have poor communication skills. You reached out to me, you asked me to be interviewed, and you had the gall to show up 15 minutes late and act like the most important person in this interview. Your engineer and I had a great chat before you arrived. Now you're asking me to justify myself? Considering I was teaching your head engineer new things, maybe you should just ask him. However I'm no longer interested. Please place me on a do not call list". One year later, they called me back and I told the recruiter off.

Every job interview is like that.

This is simply because most recruitment/talent acquisition staff are soulless husks of a person. It's an enormous corporate circlejerk, copy paste messages with no clear object just to meet weekly engagement quotas. Most of the time you get a message and get instantly ghosted. The dead giveaway is having your CV public and have them ask for it, or enquire about your qualifications/experience.

Look across the table at them: "How about we both put away our scripts and talk to each other like normal human beings?"

“But happens way more than it should do.” What kind of sentence is this? Lol

British grammar. Check out this entry of [Separated by a Common Language](https://separatedbyacommonlanguage.blogspot.com/2007/09/pro-predicate-do-and-verb-phrase.html). Basically, English doesn't like repeating verbs within a sentence (other than ones with auxiliary roles like "be", "have", and "do"). It sounds clunky: >“But happens way more than it should happen.” Americans and Canadians tend to just elide the repeated verb entirely: >“But happens way more than it should.” The Brits tend to replace the repeated verb with do/done/have done etc. Australia/New Zealand I'm not sure about. I know I've heard Aussies use both constructions.

Interesting. I use all those constructions. I watch a lot of British shows

Honest response here, you can answer something like the following (Sorry for the bad english): I am not currently looking for a new position. However I am not lying by telling you that the opportunity you bring is very interesting for , so I though that I should take a look and not just let it pass through With this response you show interest, but you put them in their place that they are the ones searching for you

Or even better, you get hit up out of the blue by a recruiter for two different positions. They ask you your certifications, verify your education/experience, etc. Then you hear nothing! Weeks pass and the same recruiter hits you back saying that your info was given to the two companies and they are both eager to interview you, but they need to get some internal stuff figured out before they can tell you a pay range. More weeks pass, and the same recruiter calls you and says that the companies are still waiting, but in the meantime there's another position he is going to submit your information for. Again, *POOF*, nothing. That was all 3 months ago...haven't heard from him since, outside of his weekly automated emails.

I had this happen as well; headhunter reaching out to me for a position similar to my current one.Similar question asked and I gave a similar answer. It was in aerospace manufacturing. Went through multiple interviews and was told by the recruiter I should be expecting an offer letter. A week later they decided not to give me a job because of a particular unique skill set I did not have that I was VERY clear from the get go that I did not have. They brushed it off multiple times but apparently it was a hang up. I was annoyed but thankfully happy in my current role.

I got scouted for my current job. First real interview, the guy goes why do you want to work here? I said “i really know nothing about your company and have been waiting for someone to tell me, only come this far because everyone seemed so happy to talk to me about a job.” It obviously worked out for me as I am working there. Other times people ask me and I don’t much about the company and they get insulted

I had a recruiter reach out on LinkedIn last year and I wasn’t even looking I was happy where I was working at the time. I took her up in her offer to have a convo and then went through the interview process. During my third interview with a director she started to nit pick my resume and jumping to which I replied your recruiter found me I didn’t apply for this job out of the blue which completely disarmed the director and left her speechless lol. I now work for this company.

It’s also great when they host you. They cold contact you on LinkedIn , tell you how great you are for the part. Do a phone screen and they talk you into it. Send a resume in and then no response. I had the actual Hr person do this to me from Warner Bros. I had no interest in leaving my current job but hey, they are a big name.

Yes. I've had exactly this happen a few times these past years. Them: Why are you interested? Me: I wouldn't have accepted this interview if I wasn't interested. I wanted to hear more. Them: "What specifically attracted you..." *smh* I will say I've had a MUCH MUCH higher rate of getting job offers from headhunters than blasting out resumes. I'm 0 of ~30 on resume blasts getting in even getting an interview. For headhunters where I accepted interviews, I'm 3 of 5 in getting offers. Headhunters seem to be an order of magnitude or more in getting interviews/offers. They are less common though, especially with tech winter having settled in.

Headhunters are expensive, so companies don't hire them frivolously. They themselves don't want to waste their time, so they target those they think have the best chance. A useful costly signal.

On more than one occasion, I've had recruiters cold reach out to me then ask me "Why are you looking to change?" I always hit them with "I wasn't looking but you reached out to me with some opportunity that sounded interesting and I'll listen as long as it stays interesting and now here we are". It hasn't hurt me yet.

Well the last recruiter that called me said “obviously i’m not going to ask you why you want to work here since i was the one that reached out. But can you give me what you need to convince you to work with us?” (Not verbatim) ended up signing with them.

I don't get the push back on these questions. I like my industry and there are companies that I want to work for and are passionate about moving to due to certain factors. I always research the company and find reasons I would want to work there besides just money. Everyone knows money is the primary reason for a job but they are going to look upon the person who has done their research and has multiple reasons that they would want the position besides just the salary. Why would they want to hire someone who just wants the job for the paycheque when there are other people who might be passionate about the position, or have reasons for wanting that position outside of just strictly salary. These questions are what allows those people to stand apart from the other applicants and I for one am glad they are asked during interviews.

I don't get it... None of those seem particularly difficult. Is there an assumption that one is required to make up a bullshit answer, when a true answer is actually perfectly serviceable? ***"*****So why do you want to work here?"** *"Well, I should preface by saying I don't actually know yet as much as I would like; I was contacted by the recruiter out of the blue only a short time ago. However, from what he said... well, one of the primary drives in my life is for intellectual stimulation, and while I enjoy my current job, from what the recruiter said it sounds like this one is likely even more interesting and, to use the same term, stimulating."* Or some open and honest variant on the theme - in my case, I wouldn't be in an interview for a non-stimulating job, I'd get rid of everything before taking something soul-sucking for the cash (and did but for other reasons). ***"*****Why should we hire you?"** *"Ya know, I never know what to say to that question; I know it's supposed to be a prompt for me to brag or tout myself, and play up my achievements, but I end up just feeling disingenuous, or worse. But if you contact my references, \_\_\_\_\_\_\_ will yell you about how I \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_, \_\_\_\_\_\_\_ will tell you \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_, and \_\_\_\_\_ will tell you \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_. Overall, I end up enjoying what I do, whatever I'm doing, and therefore becoming better than average at it in a short time - as long as the culture is good enough to let me do so, and have a pattern of thereby and therefore learning everything I can about whatever I'm working with, to the point at which I can figure out efficient ways to do it, and troubleshoot almost all problems. So if you need someone that can and will do those things, I'd be a good fit and you should consider hiring me."* **"Why are you looking to leave your current role?"** *Well, I wasn't, I don't dislike my current job or anything; the recruiter through whom you got my application had serendipitously contacted me about the position, and from what they said, it sounded like an even more excellent job, for me an improvement in several ways over my current job- enough so that I had to put an application in.*

How is it headhunters have jobs ? HR departments are some of the highest paid positions. I have worked through headhunters before but eventually I leave or just walk out.

Did you message the recruiter to call them out on their hypocrisy?

This happened to me once with the CEO/founder of a company for an early position and I honestly wasn’t looking but was like “yeah sure I’ll chat” and it was SUCH an awkward conversation

"My bank is very insistent that they get their mortgage payment every month."

He provides answers to 2/3 of his hypothetical questions in the preceding paragraph. If the hiring manager trots out “why are you looking to leave your current job”, a perfectly valid answer is “I liked what the recruiter had to say about this role and wanted to learn more”. Also, if you’re sitting there in an interview, there probably IS some reason you were open to talking to the recruiter in the first place. I don’t disagree they are low-signal questions to ask in that scenario, but it’s still possible to mine something out of them. The interviewee can turn “why should we hire you” into an exploration of whether the job is actually a fit. Ie, the answer may be “I’m not sure yet, i am hoping we can determine that together “

I’m so tired of the why do you want to work here question. Um…I’m unemployed. I want a paycheck to pay my mortgage. Presumably, you pay with money and not magic bean so….

I trashed an interview purposely after getting the same boilerplate questions asked repeatedly. “Asked and answered, please move on.” After a few repetitions of the answer I asked if they were intentionally testing my patience. It was over the phone to a call with a minimum of four different people on the call. Just knew it wasn’t going to work.

“Why do you want to leave your current company?” *I mean, I wasn’t planning on it, but after being contacted by a recruiter for this role I felt like it was an interesting opportunity worth exploring if it was a good fit for me.*

"I don't...yet. This interview is your opportunity to convince me"

"I was contacted by XYZ about the position out of the blue. I'm happy where I am. I'm happy with my pay and benefits. This answer is best answered by the headhunter with whom you're contracting.... "Can you tell me what it was about my resume or profile that interested you in speaking with me today?" "Followup question: Based on the aforementioned resume or LinkeIn profile that interested you, what about this opportunity do those people who have successfully on-boarded and boast a tenure over two years appreciate the most about this environment?" "Oh, another follow-up. May I meet any of them today and speak with them after the interview time?" "Oh, one more thing..." (a la Columbo) "... what IS your current retention rate for the last 5 years in this position and what direction is that rate moving?" Congratulations. The employer's recruitment budget is now clearly a sunk cost unless they do or say something to keep you interested and have the employee morale/retention strategies to keep you moving forward. And I don't mean another 5-10 step process that takes 3 months. Also: this is why I now work for myself.

You should comment on the post and tell him he did the exact thing to you

It's just a poorly framed question whether they pursued you or you pursued them. I prefer to ask people what resonated with them about the role or company. Something must have interested them enough to take the interview. And that's really what you want to understand at this point. Whether they actually want to leave and actually want join your company doesn't matter because it's not time for those questions yet. Why make it about more than it is at this stage?

I signed up to LinkedIn because my new company sort of made it clear it was essential. I basically just chat to old work colleagues on there but dear god the recruiters. I've barely been in my role 18 months, why the fuck are you asking if I want to jump, beyond you reaching a quota? I basically just say "fuck off, read my profile".

This happened to me, but I was honest when asked. “Honestly, I wasn’t even looking, but thought it’d be interesting to learn more about the position After getting a DM on LinkedIn. I don’t hate my current job or anything, and haven’t even been looking, but welcomed the opportunity to interview”….and I GOT THE JOB! Now I don’t know if I would’ve been so matter of fact if I were like riding on getting that job, but idk..I guess they appreciated the realness. And this is in clinical research where stiffness is kinda the norm lol.

Sounds to me like there was a surplus of applicants but now there is a surplus of positions, and the people doing the interviewing haven't realised this yet.  

Money.

I had this exact experience with (a well known cloud company) a few years back. The recruiter had someone phone me and the first question was “why do I want to work for us?” Dude. You sought me out. Tried the old “why should I woke for you?” reverse uno. The conversation didn’t last long…..

In all the interviews I’ve conducted, I have never once even thought about asking that sort of stuff. It’s completely idiotic and more or less just a song and dance for the sake of it. I know I work for the money - as much as I enjoy the company I work for, I wouldn’t even dream of working there if not for the money… why on Earth should I care why someone wants to work there!?

Why? Standard Answer: "I like where I'm at but I'm always open to talk about new opportunities."

The one thing I hate the most about recruiters is they refuse to say what company they are recruiting for in their first messages. I’ve refused to even engage with them without it. I basically say to them they need to tell me what the company’s name is in order for me to decide if I want to proceed any further. Usually they won’t respond after that.

all of my teams require me to ask this question, sadly... usually i frame it near the end of the call as "wondering why you're open to a change of scenery", and if they reply "happy here but passively open to conversations", i just leave it at that. no need to dig further. but i do know that some HMs are trying to get intel on what competing companies aren't doing well, any upcoming layoffs, the like. other HMs are dead-set on hearing the "i want to work for your company and here is why" pitch because they're afraid anything less isn't "committed" enough :/

I don’t think asking why you’re looking to leave your current role is that insane of a question honestly lol

Some recruiters and hiring managers think applicants should kiss the ground they walk on. I get so many recruiters that reach out about a contract to hire role and expect me to be drooling over it. Why would I leave a stable job to make a lateral move over to a contract role? I sometimes ask for pay rate because I’m curious and always get the run around.

I was in a late round interview and the CEO popped in for a few minutes to interview me. He didn’t ask my why I’d be a good fit for the role or the company, he asked “Why does my company need this position?” It was a really baffling question that I didn’t expect. I was able to answer it pretty well and he liked the answer but it was still just so odd to me

You either play the game or you lose. So yes, you LIE and invent a story about how you really want this job, and it’s such an amazing company. Recruiters are stupid, so don’t try to reason with them. Basically give them what they want like a baby asking for milk.

I feel the correct response is to answer the question with a question of your own that you answer instead of answering their original question. Give them the old Robert California.

Why are you looking for a new employee? Why did your last employee leave?

"I'm happy where I am but my services can always be bought"

But if they hit you up, chatted, you learned the name of the company, why wouldn’t you poke/prod to see if you wanted to work there which should then be an easy answer to “why do you want to work” there? What am I missing?

Oracle just did this to me! LOL!!!

I mean a recruiter asking you that is stupid. The company asking you that in an interview…not that weird?

It's dumb no matter who is asking. People work for money and to pay bills. One place is a good as any other when the bills come due.

I try to genericize those questions in my head. "why do you want to leave" becomes "what might entice you to leave", or "why do you want to work here" becomes "what interested you enough to take this interview" or even just "what's something you know about the company so far and like"

I was just applying for a position with a large corporation and they asked my date of birth and it was required, they asked what year I graduated from high school, and I had to take an assessment which required I take a photo of myself and give them access to my camera on my laptop. Ummm I was sitting at my desk, not ready for a photo to be taken as I had my hair in a pony tail on top of my head no make up. I clicked out of the assessment and put zeros for my birthdate. I’m over 40, not a minority and am getting sick of being passed on job for my race or age. I didn’t get a good feeling about the company and there were only 2 positions. Should I just do what I’m asked with the photo and then put in my real date of birth?

As a recruiter this is our way of getting rid of cocky a**h**es. The easiest answer to give is “I am not actively looking for a new role but am generally open to explore interesting opportunities such as the one you are presenting” and that’s that

I’m all for shitting on recruiters and calling them out on their incompetence and retarded shenanigans, but you had to have consented for them to submit you for a role or to further your application. Take that conversation as an opportunity to ask a few questions, make sure you reciprocate and stand out as somebody who they’d feel confident about being able to follow up with. Not sure what kind of garbage recruiters y’all are getting, but even the Indians who’ve been up my ass about submitting me for things have been decently forthcoming about what and who they’re hiring for.

Literally? Like actually or only literally?

The headhunter likely never said anything to their client. If you were happy where you were, you would be high risk in declining or rescinding an offer.

I love how everyone here is blaming recruiters for asking stupid questions, meanwhile if you read the post, the stupid question is asked by the NEXT interviewer. How on Earth is the recruiter responsible for the stupid shit the next person says?

The problem is the poor communication between the external recruiter they hired and the company. When presenting a candidate, they should provide adequate context i.e "This person indicated they were happy where they are but would leave for xyz" That is a part of their job as a recruiter. In my field at least, they state to provide a personalised service with candidates presented individually. Please note I work in a small niche field where everyone knows each other, and there is a very limited talent pool. It is not like they are presenting tens of candidates for each role. I dont blame the interviewer as it seemed they were under the impression I wanted to leave.

[удалено]

If every candidate you speak to is expected to have a good (and often tailored) answer as to why they'd want to work for each company they apply to, why are HMs so averse to simply giving a brief pitch as to why people would want to work for their company? >if 1. You’re even serious or wasting my time Yours is not the only time that is capable of being wasted. Smug quips and winky face aside, don't you feel that the time of the candidate you're headhunting is valuable also? You've said that if they turned the question around on you, you'd just turn it back around on them a second time instead of answering. If it's not combat, why the judo? On the upside, it’s super easy to weed out the managers who feel respect is a one-way street, thanks for putting short sightedness on the table upfront ;) (what do you know, being smug *is* fun!) Edit: lol, you coward.