I was put forward as a last-minute candidate by a recruiting firm and was shortly thereafter requested to interview in person by organizational leadership. Due to the distance between the organization’s headquarters and my current home and work location, I needed to take an entire day off of work to attend the interview. During the interview, I was told the hiring process involved a series of in-person interviews, culminating with meeting the CEO to be asked the same questions as the previous interviewers.
After the interview, I was told by the recruiter that I was the leading candidate and a follow-up interview was requested for the following week. I scheduled another full day off of work to attend the second interview, which was to be a late morning, in-person interview. The evening before the interview, the recruiter called to tell me that the hiring manager said she was probably going to cancel because snow was in the forecast, although the other managers scheduled to attend the interview would be in the office.
I let the recruiter know that was an imposition since I had taken a day off of work a week in advance and could not easily reschedule. I asked the recruiter to request the hiring manager conference into the interview via phone or video since the other managers would be present. However, the next morning, the hiring manager did not contact my recruiter until shortly before the scheduled interview time, leaving me without an update or adequate travel time in the event the interview went ahead.
The interview did not go ahead. The hiring manager told the recruiter they didn't do business via conference, and that the onus was on me to reschedule if I wanted the job. I felt personally and professionally disrespected, and found it odd that an organizational leader would refuse to use everyday meeting conferencing technology.
I told the recruiter the hiring manager's decisions that morning placed the organization's overall work culture in doubt for me, and and that as a result, although I was still the top candidate, I was no longer interested in working for them. The recruiter removed my name from candidacy.