Badly conducted job interview. Should I complain?

Question

I went for a job interview yesterday for a company my mum works for. It was for a job that I am well qualified to do & have had plenty of previous experience. The interview was conducted really badly, they told me all about the company & the job itself, they then asked me if I had any questions that I wished to ask. They asked me to fill out a simple test, which was basically to show if I could cash up a till. They left me to fill this out & said they would return in 15 minutes. 5 minutes later they came back & said 'When you've finished that just bring it to reception'. They didn't ask me one single question! Nothing at all about myself, previous experience or anything that I had written on my application form! They've just been in touch to say I haven't got the job and to be honest, I'm not surprised. I feel like they only interviewed me because my mum worked there. I'm not annoyed that I didn't get the job, I'm annoyed that they obviously wasted my time. Should I complain?

Answer 1

Unfortunately you will find places like this. It does seem very unfair, but they probably know that not much can be done about it. You could complain, hopefully it might make you feel a bit better. But, to be honest, I don't think you would get much satisfaction out of pursuing it.
It probably does look like they wasted your time, but try to think of as 'putting it down to experience'. You'll be more aware for future interviews, and I bet you'll not go through another one the same!
I hope you will soon find yourself employed somewhere you will enjoy and where you will be appreciated.

Answer 2

Complain for what? Maybe that's their interview process for the job that you applied for. Do you have any information that would say you were not interviewed in the same manner of the other applicants?

And again - complain for what? Unless you feel you were discriminated against in some form or fashion there's really nothing for you to fight.

I'd think long and hard about this before complaining. You never know if another opportunity becomes available - complaining now might set off red flags and keep them from interviewing you in the future.

Answer 3

Actually there is no issue with the question, either one of them. The reason is simple, although the question could be rephrased to, "What kinds of things do you expect your secretary to do every day?" or "What kinds of things would be expected of me as VP?" Expectations can be different from place to place, or president to president. The office of VP is ceremonial, and the Constitution doesn't give much guidence as to what the VP does on a day-to-day basis. Therefore, the question is understandable. Depending on the president, the VPs duties may vary between doing absolutely nothing to being a pricipal advisor. I would love to see the context in which Palin's comment was made. That is very telling, although you left it out of your biased question. I don't care what Carly Fiorina says. She's one CEO of one company. Leaders come in many shapes and sizes, and many leaders everyone thought would be poor candidates for something ended up doing very well. In fact, I bet there are people in Fiorina's past that thought she would not be qualified. Furthermore, being a political leader is far different than running a company since the executive political leader has no absolute power over what the legislature does.

Answer 4

probably, but ask your mum to have a friendly word first. You don't want them having a crappy attitude towards her!
plus if they already turned you down then they ain't gonna give you a job just because you complain, I conducted interviews for 3 years as part of my supervisor role and complaining about an interview doesn't get you any points, sorry

Answer 5

You may as well complain. You have nothing to lose and it may make you feel better. You need to complain to a different department than the one which interviewed you and you need to go higher than the interviewer but not so high as to go to someone who will not want to allocate time to it.

Your Mum should be able to tell you who has the authority and is generally sympathetic to the staff point of view.

Answer 6

They are not obligated to offer you the job, even if you consider yourself the best candidate. Complaining probably won't get you anywhere, who wants to hire someone they consider a "troublemaker"?

Unless they asked you something that is prohibited, such as religion, sexual orientation, race, etc you really don't have any recourse.

Perhaps, as is often the case, they already had someone in mind to hire, but decided to interview you to go through a process or as a favor for your mother.

You'll have to just chalk this up to a life experience. Good luck.

Answer 7

And what will that achieve?

They are likely to have had someone that they already wanted for the job, and was just interviewing as a form of procedure. It was most likely to be someone who already works for the company, and was moving departments... I seen it happen before, for a company I worked for.

Who do you plan to complain to? What do you expect for complaining? Just count it as a lost, and continue looking.

Everything happens for a reason, I'm sure you will find something soon!

Answer 8

It sounds like they just interviewed you becuase your mom works their and they were doing her a favor. I have done this before. Sorry but they were trying to rush it. I would do this If I already had someone in mind or if I was hungry. But I bet they have your test and app on file and you will probally get the next one that comes up. I know that complaining will not do anything.

Answer 9

Complaining would do no good, but I would recommend when applying for a job you attach a resume. It is a sign of professionalism and they are more likely see your abilities and past experiences. This does separate you from many other applicants. Good Luck Next Time.

Answer 10

Complaining really isn't going to achieve much...if anything it'll make your mom look bad. My last job interview wasn't far from your experience. It wasn't the typical interview...I met with one of the doc's assistants, she explained the position and the department. I met with him, I did all the talking. At the end of the interview, however, I was offered the position.