3 Lies By Recruiters And How To Handle Them

By Selipha Kihagi

“I went for an interview three weeks ago and the interviewer told me they would get back to me in two weeks time. Two weeks later without contact, I decided to call and was asked to be patient for a response. As I write to you, I am yet to hear from the company. What does this mean?” Clara writes in an email.

Job applications are tough in themselves and so is the interview process. Recruiters will invite a number of suitably qualified candidates for a position (based on their CVs) to the interview, but will only end up picking one. This means that the remaining number of candidates will not get the jobs and recruiters have to disappoint them with the bad news…or not.

A decision on whom to hire and not hire will almost always be made during the interview, but no recruiter wants to tell a job seeker to their face that they will not get the job. Unless of course you had a really bad attitude that couldn’t go unmentioned.

Not wanting to crush the job seeker’s feelings at face value, recruiters end up coating the truth with a few lies and half-truths.

Here are some lies that recruiters tell

1. We will let you know in 2 weeks if you got the job
If the recruiter or interviewer is certain that you are the right person for the job, they will offer you the job either during the interview or as soon as possible. This is because they know you are applying to other jobs and could get another offer – no employer wants to risk this.

So, like Clara’s situation, chances are they picked somebody else for the position or you are their plan B. Make a phone call to the recruiting manager to confirm and if they ask you to wait, don’t keep your job search on hold. Keep searching for other opportunities.

2. We will consider you for open positions in the future
While this could be true at the time the recruiter says it, if you did not leave a long standing impression during the interview you should not expect the recruiter to call you. With numerous applications to consider and candidates to interview, recruiters may not remember you for a similar position in the next month.

To make sure you are considered, keep tabs with the company for their open jobs and when you see one, contact the recruitment manager and remind them to consider you. But always make a fresh application, your CV may not be found in the employer’s database.

3. We really like you for the position but are not done with the interviews
As mentioned in point number 1, this is usually more of a stalling tactic. If you are told this during the interview or when you call for a follow up, don’t stay by the phone waiting for when they are done with interviews. At this point, the employer will probably have made an offer to another candidate and are waiting for their response.

When you hear this, avoid keeping your job search on hold because you have high hopes that you’ll get the job. Instead, keep making other applications until you get an offer letter.

Recruiters may say various things to candidates because they do not want to hurt your feelings or as a tactic to their advantage. So, until you have received an offer letter in your email or been asked to report to work – in those very words – don’t assume you got the job.