‘What the actual?’ : Candidate ready for 11 am interview, but recruiter called at 10:59 and rejected them anyway

Imagine waiting for a job interview at the scheduled time, only to lose the opportunity because the interviewer called 60 seconds early and hung up before you could answer.

The candidate’s name was not disclosed. The experience was shared in a post on Reddit’s r/recruitinghell community, titled, “Rejected because the interviewer called 1 minute early and hung up immediately.”

According to the candidate, his phone had an automated spam-screening feature enabled, which took a few seconds to process the incoming call.  The user said he immediately opened the screening prompt and accepted the call, but by then, the interviewer had already hung up.

After waiting for 15 minutes without receiving another call, the candidate contacted the recruiter, explained what had happened and offered to reschedule the interview at a time convenient for the hiring manager.

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A few hours later, however, the recruiter delivered disappointing news. The hiring manager had decided not to proceed with the application because the interview was scheduled for 11 am and the candidate had not been available when the call was made.

The candidate said the experience was particularly discouraging because the entire situation appeared to have come down to a 60-second delay. They also felt the incident might have revealed something about the kind of work environment they could have been entering.

‘It’s an excuse’

The post prompted other Reddit users to share their own experiences with recruiters and hiring managers.

One user said, “It's an excuse. They have hundreds of applications per opening, so they are weeding out anyone they can in any way they can. Look at this not so much as a disappointment, but imagine what working for a person who is that rigid would be like. Fate dealt you a good hand here.”

Another user described an experience in which a recruiter repeatedly changed or missed scheduled calls before eventually rejecting them.

“I applied to a job mid august. Got a mail some weeks later, that they still need some time. Okay, no biggie. On wednesday night I got a mail from idk the recruiter or something? Asking if we could have a call via Teams the next day. I answered immediately, yes, of course. I am available until 4:30. No answer from his side. The next day (thursday), he called at 5:30, telling me he read my mail wrong, thinking I was available after 4:30. Well, no big deal, me make another appointment on the next day, 11 am.

“Thursday night, i receive a mail from him, saying he won't make it, but I could call him after 1pm. I called him friday at 1pm. Twice. Could not reach him. This morning I received the rejection. What the actual? I wouldn't want to work there anyway, if this company lacks every basic human respect but was it really necessary, to waste my time like this and then hit me with the "please stay in touch for other career possibilities"?

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“I hate how this has absolutely no consequences for them.”

‘You dodged a bullet’

A third user said HR had once called them 30 minutes before their interview time and told them that the hiring manager and the rest of the team were already online and waiting.

“I joined in no problem and the hiring manager apologized for the early start. I eventually got the job (2 months from the interview date) and the manager exhibited the same personality I saw online. He even said on my first day "I do not care about your hours in the office, I care about results". So again, you doged a bullet. I know the job market is rough, but keep searching till you get an environment you can be comfortable in on a day to day basis.”