r/interviews

Unlike most of ya’ll I haven’t been job searching very long and I applied to a retail role on LinkedIn a little while back.

I got rlly lucky cos it was the first job I’d applied for and they wanted to interview me on the phone and I passed that, then came the in-person interview this morning which was… not ideal.

It was my fault I wasn’t prepared enough and I knew I wouldn’t get the job after that. Received the rejection email not but an hour afterwards.

Maybe it’s cos it’s my first one but I can’t stop thinking of what a damned idiot I looked in front of the interviewers and it’s getting to me.

TL;DR : how do I stop thinking about an interview I messed up?

For a bit of context, I am a student and mostly apply for summer job/internship. Recently, the question that bother me the most in interviews is when the HM asks: Do you also apply else where?/ Do you have other opportunities?/ Will your past employer that you worked for last summer accept you if you apply this year?. And as you could have guessed, they never get back to me with an offer after asking this sort of questions. So, I just want to ask you, r/interviews redditors, what is the intention of these questions? What would be the best answer for them? Or is it just a cooperate way of saying "your chance is slim here, go and work somewhere else" ?

Say the salary was low: they judge you as money-driven
Say the environment was bad: they label you as difficult or non-accommodating
Say anything honest: it gets used against you

Whats the best answer?

And now my manager knows I am looking.

Why ask for references if you're just going with an internal candidate?

Made it through four rounds of interviews before being asked for references (to include current manager) only to get the automated rejection email a couple of days later. Didn't even contact my references. HR said feedback from team was positive, but they wanted someone internal.

Why put anyone through all of that if you're just going with someone internal?

I get that HR/org probably made them open it externally and go through the whole process, but ugh. I am just so frustrated.

Edit to address some of the comments:

They specifically requested 2-3 references with one including my direct manager.

They didn't contact my references.

I asked my references first if they were okay with me submitting their information.

I told my manager I was interviewing for an opportunity and that they requested a reference from my direct manager. I wanted to be sure he was willing to give me a reference.

As a people leader myself and someone that has promoted transparency and communication on my team, I did not want my manager to find out I was interviewing from the company.

In most cases, I would agree: do not tell your manager/company until you have offer in hand.

Thankfully. I do not work at a toxic company. They do truly support an employee's mobility and growth. I am sure there are managers there that do not, but the culture as a whole does.

My manager is aware of and supports my long term career goals. This role checked off all my boxes.

I would be happy to be a reference for anyone on my team if they chose to look for another position. Would I be disappointed? Absolutely, but I believe in investing in their growth. And if part of that growth means leaving, that's fine.

I would still feel disappointed and want to plan for their eventual departure. Whether they get the job or not.

I know my manager is now thinking that way. Has he informed his manager? Would this affect a near future promotion? Things that were worth the risk when I thought I had the job.

And I know that nothing is guaranteed unless you have the offer in writing. I allowed my past experiences to influence my expectations. Never received a request for references at the end, without an offer or an offer soon following.

I am not upset they went with an internal candidate. If we were well matched in skillset, they still have business knowledge that I don't. It's that they asked for references despite having already decided on the internal candidate.

Appreciate people sharing their experiences. I've been on both sides of the interview table and sometimes I've gone in fully expecting to hire internally and then it didn't happen for whatever reason. As a hiring manager myself and having worked closely with our recruiters, we would never ask for references without an offer or at least check those references prior to making a final decision.

I can only provide answers to scenarios which I have prepared beforehand. I cant come up with scenarios on the spot. My brain just goes blank or I blabber a lot.

After 10 months of applying and at least 8 interviews I finally got 2 offers this week . I just want to let everyone know that there is hope , and don’t give up . I was about to give up and was getting depressed, feeling hopeless then this week everything changed.

tl;dr I'm a bad cultural fit because a recruiter deemed it so on account of my not knowing what "scorpio rising" meant.

Had an interview last Thursday that I'm still stewing over. The recruiter and I hit it off and went almost 20 mins past the scheduled time (gave him multiple chances to end the call but he kept reassuring me he had the time). I was referred by someone in the C-suite who I've worked with before, I know their clients by name, I've worked for one of their competitors, and I've been in this industry for over 15 years. They urgently need a director hired into the position because they need to name key personnel on a government RFP response and I was prepared to start right away. It was going perfectly until I asked him for more details on a specific challenge he had mentioned in passing and he described it as "the scorpio rising of public utilities". I didn't know what that meant, so I asked and the mood instantly shifted. It was like I had said the most offensive thing. I've been replaying my answer every day since and I still don't understand what happened. I've googled it and couldn't tell you what "scorpio rising of public utilities" means. The rejection came same day. I told my contact who referred me and he said he'll try to talk to the CEO but that the CEO has given the recruiter full agency to select out people that don't culturally fit. I'm on the spectrum and I know I can be very literal at times, but if I have to know astrology to work in utilities in 2026, count me out.

I have been interviewing and searching for jobs for quite some time, and a few patterns in the current job market have stood out to me.

Many interviews no longer feel centered around a candidate’s actual qualifications or experience. Instead, they often feel designed to test composure under pressure or to catch candidates off guard with trick questions that have little connection to the real responsibilities of the role. In some cases, it can feel as though interviewers are more focused on seeing a candidate struggle than evaluating whether they are capable of doing the job well. I have also noticed an interesting dynamic around qualifications and hierarchy. When a candidate has stronger academic credentials or more specialized expertise than the hiring manager, there can sometimes be visible defensiveness during the interview process. Rather than viewing the candidate as an asset, the interaction can shift toward “humbling” them or asserting authority. At times, it feels as though a decision has already been made before the interview even begins, despite the candidate matching the requirements that HR initially identified for the position. In one recent experience, someone from a completely different department was brought into the interview process. It gave the impression that the hiring manager was uncomfortable evaluating someone whose background or qualifications might eventually allow them to advance quickly within the company. Ironically, the position itself existed because the company needed support and had an open role to fill, yet the process felt more focused on protecting internal dynamics than finding the best fit for the job. Of course, every company and interviewer is different, and there are many excellent hiring managers as well. Still, these experiences have made the job market feel increasingly shaped by office politics, insecurity, and power dynamics rather than by skill, potential, and contribution.

I had onsite interviews at a company two weeks ago and I thought the interviews went well. However nobody responded to my thank you email which is fine I think that does not really mean anything. I then checked in with the recruiter afterwards who didn’t really give me any concrete information or he just didn’t reply to my email. Today, I decided to send another follow up email. Surprising the recruiter responded fast with the below message -

Hope all is well and sorry for any delay! The hiring manager is taking a bit longer than expected for interviews and he mentioned she would reach out to you today, which is great! Hoping we can wrap this up mid next week! 

I didn’t hear from the hiring manager today.

I have given close to 10 interviews and every single time they ask the same questions (word for word). “Describe a time you worked under pressure”, “describe a time you made a mistake”.

Most candidates have these answers already memorized and lie about it, so why not just ask something different for once.

Interviews have become less of “I can do this” and more of how well someone can memorize an answer. The game’s gone.

Edit: I'm not just talking about the "describe a time you made a mistake" question, i just used it as an example. I'm talking about most of the behavioural questions that are overused and everyone already knows the answer to. You can ask chatgpt right now and it will give you those questions word for word

Rant:

I know it's a hugely competitive job market. But I don't see the need AND I question the true motivation behind asking for a video before the company will even set an interview.

To me, it's not only unnecessary (anyone with the experience necessary for this senior level position has to be at least well spoken, presentable and have a track record of success)-

but it's a huge red flag for a company possibly being racist, mysognistic, ageist, or any other discriminatory reason to turn down the candidate before the interview.

Hey all, I have a final-round presentation coming up for a sales position at The Trade Desk.

If you’ve been through the presentation stage here, I’d love to hear about your experience. What went right or wrong? What kind of questions did they throw at you?

Pretty nervous but excited for this. Thanks a ton for any help!

I have been interviewing for a position for nearly 3 months. I've had 4 interviews. A few days ago, the recruiter sent me a very peppy email about how she would love to call me later this week to update me. I had the call this morning. It was a rejection. Well, it was a "you don't have enough experience for this position, but we still were very impressed, and you are on our radar for other openings." Which is great and I appreciate it, but that could've been an email. I got my hopes up because they do offers as calls and rejections as emails, usually. Feeling very discouraged. I'm glad I got an update and not ghosted, but scheduling a call days in advance just to reject me felt like a little much. I hardly even said anything on the call because I just wanted to cry, and my voice was shaky. Ugh.

So I am applying to this firm which requires a background check that might include my employment history. In June 2025, I left my previous employer to do a solo trip but my project manager switched me to a flex employee so by the end of the year when I come back, I’ll still have a job. Fast forward, I found out there were internal changes and my position was replaced by someone else. My supervisor says they’ll reach out when they have work for me but I decided to apply for other positions.

Now I am still technically working for my previous employer, I have access to my ADP and emails but no work is given to me. Does this count as employment if a background check is done on me? Will these third party background checks use The Work Number to see that I haven’t been paid close to a year now but still has active status in the company and find it suspicious?

I interviewed at L3 Harris exactly a week ago last Wednesday. It felt like it went well recruiter even said I’d be a good fit, they showed me around the facility, one of the guys looked me up on LinkedIn. However I’m not convinced I’m going to get the job. How long does it usually take on average to receive an offer letter after the final panel interview for a defense company? He did mention that the hiring process is a pain in the ass. Not getting my hopes up for this one but it’d be nice if I got the offer. I’ve never worked in defense before.

Got laid off recently and have been deep in the interview grind. Solid background, but I keep hitting that question — "Why do you want to work for us?" — and genuinely wonder if companies are ready to hear the real answer: we're all just trying to find a paying job.

It's 2026. The labor market 5 year outlook is shaky at best. Feels like there's an opening to cut through the corporate theater and be straight with each other. Has anyone actually tried it? How'd it go?

Hi everyone,

I have an interview in about 12 hours and I really need some advice on how to answer this question professionally.

I currently work as an Operation Coordinator and I’m applying for a new role as an Administration Manager.

The thing is, I’ve been facing some issues in my current workplace recently. The salary is very low compared to the workload, and they keep increasing responsibilities without updating the contract. The workload has become heavier almost every week, and now they’re asking us to work longer hours than originally agreed. Shift schedules are also changing constantly and randomly based on management decisions. Overall, the work environment has become quite unstable and not well-structured in terms of policies and employee rights.

Another point is that my current role is fully remote (online), while the new position is on-site (offline), which I actually see as a positive step for me in terms of structure, communication, and professional growth.

I don’t want to sound negative or unprofessional in the interview, so I’m looking for advice on how to frame this situation in a positive and professional way.

What would be the best way to answer this question?

Thank you in advance!

I just went through 3 rounds of interviews for an L7 role. The recruiter wants to set up 15 min to catch up with me today.

Does that normally mean good news or bad news?

The reason I'm asking is because I've had another organization go out of their way to call me with bad news

edit: moving into offer phase!

Got into a CSA process at a lower scale wealth management firm in Dallas through a Partner level referral. Had a virtual interview with the Partner of client services and Director of Client Service, they told the recruiter they enjoyed meeting me, and I got scheduled with the Team Leader the next day. Is a final conversation with a Team Leader after already clearing a Partner and Director typically a formality or does it still carry real weight? Anyone have any experience?