{"id":1997,"date":"2019-12-09T12:37:42","date_gmt":"2019-12-09T12:37:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cn7w3i4565-staging.onrocket.site\/?p=1997"},"modified":"2025-12-04T12:16:56","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T12:16:56","slug":"dropping-out-of-a-job-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.adzuna.co.za\/blog\/dropping-out-of-a-job-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"Dropping out of a job interview"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jumping ship without drowning (a.k.a dropping out of a job interview after you\u2019ve been job hunting forever<\/em>) seems ludicrous, and after all, you\u2019ll probably earn a bad reputation on the job market if you decline that offer, right?<\/p>\n

Not necessarily.<\/p>\n

A lot of job seekers find themselves applying for who-knows-how-many jobs, and perhaps they get invited for interviews at a variety of companies. Suddenly, they have more than one job offer on the table.<\/p>\n

The problem is this:<\/strong> At one point or another, they\u2019ll have to turn one of those positions down, and that\u2019s much easier said than done.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re in this scenario and you\u2019ve been offered a job you just cannot accept, here\u2019s some advice on how to politely say \u201c<\/strong>thanks, but no thanks<\/strong><\/em>\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Give fast feedback<\/strong><\/h2>\n

No matter which industry you\u2019re in, to businesses, time means money, and they don\u2019t want to waste it. Don\u2019t keep job offers on the line for days, waddling back and forth between your options. If you\u2019re thinking of dropping out of a job interview, do it and get it done.\u00a0 Leaving a position open for a prolonged period of time just because you\u2019re indecisive is plain rude: you don\u2019t want to be bitten in the butt later on along the road because you couldn\u2019t hurry up and make that call.<\/p>\n

Give thanks<\/strong><\/h2>\n

One of the first things you should do when turning down a job offer is to thank the hiring manager for his or her time. Remember that the recruiter didn\u2019t just randomly call you in for an interview; it probably took him or her hours to sift through the masses and select you<\/em> as a potential candidate for the job.<\/p>\n

Give reason<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Leaving a hiring manager in the dark about why exactly you\u2019re declining the position isn\u2019t cool, but you also don\u2019t need to write a book about ALL the reasons you\u2019ve decided not to take the job. Keep your explanation brief but honest. Something along the lines of: \u201cAfter careful consideration, I have decided to take up a position at another company<\/em>. Thank you for the opportunity, but the position is not fit for my skills and career goals at present<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Give pleasantries<\/h2>\n

The job market isn\u2019t that big, even more so if you\u2019re in a very specific industry. When declining a position, giving pleasantries before signing off and tapping out is always a good idea. Remember, you\u2019re trying not to burn bridges here, so why not make a statement such as: \u201cIt\u2019s been great getting to know all of you. I hope to cross paths with you again in the future.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Final Thoughts<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Even though you\u2019re absolutely positive that there\u2019s no way you\u2019ll ever accept a certain position, dropping out of a job interview still feels awful. But everything happens to us for good reason, and this is all part of the process in which you\u2019ll finally land the job of your dreams<\/a>!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jumping ship without drowning (a.k.a dropping out of a job interview after you\u2019ve been job hunting forever) seems ludicrous, and after all, you\u2019ll probably earn a bad reputation on the job market if you decline that offer, right? Not necessarily. A lot of job seekers find themselves applying for who-knows-how-many jobs, and perhaps they get Continued \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":3108,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[146,286],"tags":[471],"class_list":["post-1997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-career-advice","category-job-search","tag-featured"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.adzuna.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.adzuna.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.adzuna.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.adzuna.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.adzuna.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1997"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.adzuna.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1997\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3109,"href":"https:\/\/www.adzuna.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1997\/revisions\/3109"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.adzuna.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.adzuna.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.adzuna.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.adzuna.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}