The Hidden Cost of Interviewing: How to Decide Which Opportunities Deserve Your Time and Energy
- amy Leighton
- Mar 18
- 2 min read
You would think that after putting in all the effort to land a job interview, one of the hardest parts is done, and now you just start preparing for the interview itself. However, now that it’s being offered to you, you may find yourself questioning if you should take the interview or not. Why? Maybe you’ve started to question if you really want that job after all. Perhaps you’ve heard things about the company you don’t like from people who work there. Here are some things to consider if you find yourself in this position.
It might just be good practice. If you’re called for an interview and you’re 100 percent sure you don’t want the job, this is still an opportunity to work on your interview skills. Practicing answering questions in real time is invaluable for delivering responses naturally. It gives you the chance to practice telling your story. Where this might not be a good idea is if you’re already pressed for time with everything else you need to do in life. If you’re bogged down by a full-time job, family commitments, and a bunch of extracurricular activities, this practice might not be a waste of time. If you don’t have time to prep and are winging the interview, you won’t get much from this experience.
You might be surprised. Before the interview, you only know this company and the job position by what you read or hear. The interview will give you an inside view of how the company runs and what is required for the position. You may be surprised to find yourself more interested in the job than you thought on paper. Perhaps something you don’t like in the job description won’t have such a big emphasis, and you’ll actually get to do more of the things you like. On the other hand, if you already have enough options to consider, this extra influence could confuse your choice.
You could stumble into a different position. Even though you’re going in to interview for one job, that doesn’t mean the interviewer won’t find that you’re a better fit for another position that isn’t posted yet. Going in for an interview with a company could introduce you to someone who could open other doors. Don’t be deceptive, though. You could volunteerly state you are open to hearing about other positions, but don’t go in asking about other positions. It’s not worth taking the chance of irritating an interviewer, making them think they wasted their time, and now have one less viable candidate for the opening they are trying to fill.
If you’re in the lucky position of receiving multiple interview requests, remember not to feel pressured to take every single one. Take stock of your priorities before agreeing to an interview. You don’t want to waste your needed time and energy when searching for a job. If your time is better spent preparing for the interview for the job you do want, think about passing on interviews just for the sake of doing them.
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