'Rejection' email after Interview?

[Conor D]

I've had a few rejection letters following job interviews over the past few years, a few weeks ago I interviewed for a job at a large technology company and today got a 'rejection' email.. Many in the past simply said something along the lines of 'we are not taking your application any further'.

The one I received today was slightly different and said '...following consideration of operational needs we have decided not to proceed with this position at this time." - which is a first for me...

I'm just wondering does this mean they didn't find someone suitable for the position, is it a way of saving face and rejecting someone without actually rejecting them - or does this happen a lot?

I remember reading something recently about companies advertising jobs for speculative positions that may not actually exist just to see who is available in the market..

[HappyMidget]

Had similar when I was interviewing with Microsoft. Their financial year clocked over and the dept. got a new boss. He wanted to start over with the recruitment.

Sometimes companies will also start the interview process before even getting the budget signed off, to then not get the budget and so cannot recruit even if they wanted to.

[944fan]

HappyMidget said:

Sometimes companies will also start the interview process before even getting the budget signed off, to then not get the budget and so cannot recruit even if they wanted to.

Yep happens a lot. Could be other reasons, could be trying it on, testing the market, just HR making something to do.

Surprised they bothered sending anything at all. With most companies that will tell the person who is successful and ignore the rest

[dxbtiger]

My template has different wording but we use something similar when the position has been cancelled by the business post interviews etc.

[Conor D]

Thanks for the feedback guys. It's something I haven't seen before...

I think this might also have something to do with the response I recieved:

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ir...

[vanordinaire]

I've written a similar response to the one you received. In our case it was because we were interviewing for several positions. While we didn't get the ideal candidate for any one position, we interviewed a few who we felt we could employ and alter the jobs around their abilities. We did this and therefore we no longer needed someone to fill the original post.

[Du1point8]

Conor D said:

Thanks for the feedback guys. It's something I haven't seen before...

I think this might also have something to do with the response I recieved:

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ir...

What is it you are looking for and what qualifications do you have?

[Conor D]

Du1point8 said:

What is it you are looking for and what qualifications do you have?

I'm looking for something in the area of Project/Manufacturing/Quality Engineering starting in September.. I'm currently finishing off an MSc in Advanced Mechanical Engineering.

[bad company]

Happens all the time. I owned a recruitment business for many years. Sometimes a department will start the recruitment process before being overruled by HR or the directors. Frustrating and a huge waste of time but very common.

[edc]

bad company said:

Happens all the time. I owned a recruitment business for many years. Sometimes a department will start the recruitment process before being overruled by HR or the directors. Frustrating and a huge waste of time but very common.

I have worked agency side but have been company side for 10+ years now.

What often happens is that line managers start a process without having any of the necessary approvals. They may also be unclear on salary budget. Sometimes they do this thinking approvals are complete when they are not. Other times they do so expecting the approval to arrive at the back end of the interview process and ready for offer. At this stage a couple of things happen which frustrate agency recruiter and candidate: the approved budget is not the same as the hiring manager thinks it is, approval is not forthcoming, role requirement is changed as head of department / senior manager reviews the structure and requirements rather than just moving forward with a no-thought like for like hire.

Recruiters and to a lesser extent candidates need to qualify the process. The above is why a company will implement a standard work process which is normally run from an HR team. This is not HR over-ruling people but about ensuring a consistent approach and that problems like the above don't occur.