Don't ask me to come for an interview if you have no intention of hiring me.

[raccoon]

That annoys the piss out of me. It happens lots, IME. The workplace already knows who they're going to hire for the position. Yet they ask others to come for the interview, wasting these peoples' time and money.

I know, they do it because they're worried about possible litigation. It still ticks me off mightily.

[Alameda]

1. Are you really sure there really is no chance of being hired?

I have worked in a company where we have interviewed many applicants, but of course, only hired a few. Being interviewed just means you are being considered more seriously.

[Kat45]

2. Oftentimes a company know who they're going to hire, perhaps an internal candidate,

but they place an ad and do interviews to make it look like it was a fair and open hiring process. In some cases there could be legal reasons it has to look fair and open.

[lukasahero]

3. I've never known people willing to waste their time on such a venture

I have interviewed a lot of applicants and getting everyone lined up for the interview is hard enough - why would anyone think it is done it just for kicks? Honestly, most people are not out to deliberately screw you.

There is no legal requirement to post a position externally if there is an internal candidate up for it so they gain nothing by doing so.

[DaveJ]

4. I've been told this is the case with college jobs

Maybe I was misled, but I was told by a university employee they had to post a job opening to create the appearance they were seeking the best candidate, when in reality they knew who they were going to hire. This was at a university but I suspect it may be the same with many government jobs. As far as corporations go, I don't understand them, who knows. I was told they have some legal rationale for not hiring people who have been submitted by twice... so, who knows, corps seem to be mostly just crazy.

[progressoid]

5. I've seen what Dave J said happen.

I worked for a state University and it wasn't uncommon for them to post a position even though they already knew who they were going to hire. They had to give the appearance of being fair and go through the motions.

[raccoon]

6. Same here, and these were state/county government jobs I was applying for. nt