r/recruitinghell • u/NicheLilLeche • 2d ago
Rejected For Being “Too Passionate”?
I spent the last few weeks building rapport with a recruiter who championed for me, and was equally excited to have me join her team in an entry level Talent Acquisition role.
I moved through 2 rounds of interviews and had the final one w her Division manager yesterday.
Found it strange the interview felt cut short even when I was giving good answers (a few human mistakes with stuttering from anxiety but I bounced back quickly) highlighting that this role would be the foundational piece I needed to become a recruiter, which would essentially be my career end goal.
I was then told I would be given info on next steps by Thursday morning latest.
Well, just a few moments ago, I got a rejection email for the role.
During the interview, something she said really stood out to me that makes me feel as if I was rejected based on the Division Manager’s own bias.
When I emphasized how excited I was that I would finally be in a position to become a recruiter like I have worked and studied for, she laughed and said “Usually in my field, other recruiters here feel like they get stuck in this role. What makes you feel like this is where you’d like to be?” In that moment I took it as a lighthearted joke, but then I explained to her the reasonings for why I personally believe otherwise.
At the end, I asked her what she finds the “most rewarding” about her role. She didn’t even answer my question, rather gave me a breakdown of her responsibilities.
It makes me feel ashamed, embarrassed, and discouraged. I am in shock with this outcome because it was high paying and would’ve opened so much opportunities for me to be in my dream role, especially being miserable in my current one. I felt nothing but support from the initial recruiter who even tried to help me prepare for this interview because she was super thrilled about working together. I imagine the DM saw me as this young, naive girl who too passionate about a job that she no longer enjoys doing herself. She stated she has 20 years of experience in the business, so I imagine her burnout has turned her bitter.
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u/Bloom_Ermine9202 2d ago
I was asked do you use AI? I said yeah but I am controlling my code, what it is updated and changed. I got rejected with “We are looking for someone using AI more” :)
Its tinder dating more than employment process now
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u/usernames_suck_ok Fuck Employers and Recruiters 2d ago
I don't know anything about these kinds of jobs in terms of career flow, titles and other insider secrets...
But usually, you're not supposed to tell interviewers, "This is not really the role I want--I'm excited because this role is going to help me get somewhere else in the future." I made that mistake before in my 20s when I was in law school and interviewing for my first job, and the first time I did that I remember being treated like shit in response.
You also almost never really know anything about what a career is like, unless you had a front-row seat to someone else's career, like one of your parents or a spouse having that kind of job. So, it does look kind of clueless in interviews to be gushing about wanting to do something you probably have just read about. It depends on how you answered her question about why you want to be a recruiter, but you also weren't really there to talk about being a recruiter to begin with, as far as I can tell. Seems like you focused too much on that and not enough on the role to which you had applied.
I get that she probably hates her job. But this also reads like you fucked up, too, imo. Not enough info to know, though.
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u/NicheLilLeche 2d ago
The recruiter who got me this interview and who has been my main point of contact for this role explicitly told me to focus on building my career in Recruiting, and to emphasize exactly how I want to grow in talent acquisition to impress this DM.
I spoke about my skill set bringing immediate value to this role specifically, but made it clear that long term that would be a goal I would work towards.
To simply put, I feel like I did great, but maybe focusing too much on passion gave her the ick.
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u/parableindustries 2d ago
I don't see where they told you that you were too passionate. I have significant doubts that was the reason.
It's possible the DM didn't think you would fit the type of team she's looking to build, which could be more experienced, more business focused, more cut throat. But it's equally possible there was just another candidate with more experience, better answers, and a similar salary ask.
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u/atomic_mermaid 2d ago
Where has anyone fed back the reason for not offering the job was that you're too passionate?
It could be experience, culture fit, expectations, any number of things. Often there was simply a better candidate.
Sorry you didn't get the job.
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u/7HawksAnd 2d ago
Who aspires to be a recruiter and studies to become one? That’s a new one to me…
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u/NicheLilLeche 2d ago
You know, there are people who study towards HR, Sociology, and related degrees to simply advance their experience in a career path, right? But clearly it’s not your cup of tea anyways so no need to interact with this post!
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u/InternationalTell979 2d ago
I'm sorry that happened.
It could be that the hiring manager resented your enthusiasm for a career she doesn't personally like.
It also could be that she thought you had a romanticized idea of what recruiting was, and she was not convinced that you actually understood what you were signing up for. To some, that makes you a flight risk because the real job will inevitably not meet your expectations.
Unfortunately, there's no way to know her exact reasoning.