'I’m flabbergasted; do I reply?!': Hiring manager accidentally sends interview notes meant for the recruiter directly to the interviewee

If I had a dollar for every time I left an interview feeling bad about myself, I'd probably at least be able to go have a fun night out with that cash. It happens too often to many of us just trying our best out there in the dog-eat-dog world of career searching. You go to an interview, you've prepared… You're all dolled up, and you practiced your responses, and yet the second you walked into that hiring manager's office or clicked into the virtual meeting, the vibes were off... Is that your fault? I would say no. But that still doesn't stop you from wondering—what were those hiring managers thinking?

Well, a woman recently got that wish granted, and it was not what she was expecting. She had been well prepared for this interview and even went as far as buying a brand-new outfit just for the occasion. It was a virtual interview for a hybrid WFH/in-office job. However, during the interview, the hiring manager said she would only have one work-from-home day, and he was put off when she mentioned that this was not what the position advertised. The rest of the interview seemed fine, and she went about her life.

However, she got an email shortly afterward that left her "flabbergasted." The hiring manager accidentally sent her the private interview notes he meant to just send to the recruiter. In the notes, it talked poorly about how she wanted to work from home, and it also stated that she wasn't "dressed professionally." Reminds me of the time I went into an interview, and they literally gave me a pop quiz on Excel—which I was not expecting. When I left, I heard one of them say, "And did you see what she was wearing?" When all I was wearing was just wearing a conservative black dress… So I can tell you firsthand that this feels pretty crappy.

So, what did OP do? She was better than most of us out there and kept things professional.

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Posted by Elna McHilderson