I have mentioned it before that I try my best to let people know their status in the interview process as quickly as possible. Sometimes that means that I email them the same day they apply. Some people email me back thanking me for letting them know but many get mad. If you ask someone out and they do not want to date you would you rather they say “let me think about it, I will let you know if a few days” or would you rather they say “I appreciate the offer but I am not interested?” I would rather know right away so I can move on with my life.
There is one caveat to this. If a candidate says something that is a no-go in an interview I don’t tell them we are not pursuing them till the next day. What are the things that a candidate can say to make it a no-go? I will cover that in a future post. But it would awkward, to say the least, if in the middle of a phone or face to face interview I just said “I have decided that we are not going to move you forward in the interview process. Have a nice day.” This is the same as if on a date the other person decides that they do not want to go on another date with me I would still think it rude if they just got up and left. I have heard stories of that happening but it is still not cool.
Remember, these are all rules of the game. Don’t want to follow the rules? Fine, but don’t get mad when you get a penalty.
The Man
Serious sport has nothing to do with fair play. It is bound up with hatred, jealousy, boastfulness, disregard of all rules and sadistic pleasure in witnessing violence. In other words, it is war minus the shooting.
George Orwell