Why It’s Okay to End an Interview After 60 Seconds

One of the cruel realities of life is that the internet is forever. Even if you delete it, it’s coming back to haunt you. Even if you were right in the first place. Here’s a case in point:

Adam Guild, co-founder, and CEO of Owner.com, posted a quick quip about a job interview, where he ended it quickly. He wrote:

just ended an interview 60 seconds in

me: hey! how are you?

him: counting down the hours til the weekend haha

me: i sense this is not a culture fit, sorry

he was super mad, but I think early stage startups are too hard to have people who count down the hours.

thoughts?

To read my thoughts, click here: Why It’s Okay to End an Interview After 60 Seconds

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6 thoughts on “Why It’s Okay to End an Interview After 60 Seconds

  1. There’s finishing early and there’s doing it in 60 seconds. The former can be reasonable, the latter is not.

  2. Although I wouldn’t say that in an interview, it might indeed have been just an awkward joke from a nervous candidate. If I were interviewing the guy, I probably would have said, “We do work a lot of weekends, actually. Is that something you think you can do?” And then I’d go from there.

    This snap judgment is a red flag, IMO. I wouldn’t want to work for a manager who jumps to conclusions without further investigation. I feel like he’s the kind of person who thinks he’s never wrong.

    1. So you’re saying he was right, that it wasn’t a good culture fit? Just not for the reason he thought?

      Sometimes, “not a good culture fit” is code for “dodging a bullet.”

    2. Agreed, I think he was trying to sound/be clever. And failed.

      From what I could see on reddit, he wasn’t getting roasted for ending the interview early, but as you say for the reason, for the snap judgement.

  3. I was conducting an interview and we did quick intros. The interviewee said they were in nursing school and wanted to be a practitioner some day. I stopped the interview (about 60 seconds in) and asked if they realized the job was swinging shifts and could not accommodate a school schedule. I said I would have no issue continuing the interview, but wanted them to know the schedule right then and there. They thanked me and would check with their school.

  4. I was in an interview that ended almost as quickly and one that could have but I decided to continue on anyway. The first question asked in the first interview was “Can you routinely lift 50 pounds.” Due to back issues, I cannot. The interview ended right then and there. If that is a requirement of the job, it should have been listed in the job description!

    The second one was when we started, the first thing I was asked was, “I saw you put the requested salary range as $40,000 – $50,000. This job pays $20,000. Does it make sense to continue?” I said yes because I was unemployed at the time. First, put the salary range in the job advertisement. Secondly, that should have been mentioned when I was called for the interview, NOT during the interview!

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