Weird! I think the first guy who answered may have it:

They never intended to hire you. They led you on and hosted a phony interview just to promote themselves. They're utter sleazebags.

I've never heard of anything like this before, but I guess it could happen. If I was the victim of a time-waster like this, I'd be SO furious.

yeah... I agree. But what I want to know is how on earth is that promotion? I'd never, ever send any business to a place I thought fucked around with me, and, really, just being stupid enough not to hire me would be reason for me not to direct any business their way. Why would I want to help promote a business that thought I wasn't good enough to hire?

I guess they haven't thought this brilliant plan through very well.

Step 1. Screw over people hoping for a job.

Step 2. ????

Step 3. Profit!

Ha! That's what they call "thinking outside the box". (Stupid, stupid boxes, oppressing our creativity.)

i don't think that's it.
Some places are obligated to advertise and interview for a job opening before they place someone.
maybe they let her know by saying that that she wouldn't be placed, but if it was some place she really wanted to work, at least her resume and interview are on file.
i know people who would go interviewing at places just in case there were any opening in the future and many time when places are interviewing for openings, they canvas widely to get this info and have it on hand in case they need it for future openings.

Throw a few s' and commas in there.
It's harder to tell without knowing what field this person was interviewing for, ya know, sandwich artist or cad jockey.

Meanwhile, keep banging away:
≡ Click to see image ≡

You mean the interviewee probably misunderstood what they were saying?

Somewhat, more like their expectations weren't aligned to the situation. It's hard to tell whether the asker hasn't interviewed much or what they said exactly and we don't know in what field for what type of job this person was interviewing for or whether or not they were truly qualified, or if they were really looking for someone in the first place, or fulfilling the obligation to advertise the opening and interview.

The question is do they have the right to know why.
This person can try to build a relationship with this company and follow up and ask questions to help themselves or have a reason to stay in contact (maybe they connected with someone in particular or for future openings), but demanding to know why they weren't hired wouldn't be smart at all.

actually, it's specifically this: the people interviewing said, ""they like to interview people a lot because [of] the nature of their business, interviews expose prospective clients to their business."

I'm not really curious about why the person didn't get the job - that's completely normal. But the idea of a company wanting to interview people for jobs (without necessarily needing to hire someone, apparently), because it somehow promotes their business is mystifying.

Sorry honey... we're talking about different things. I'm not actually interested in the AskMe question, just something that was mentioned in the question.

i don't think it's to promote a business per se, as that doesn't make any sense when there are lots of reasons why places interview without actually intending to hire people, like mergers or buy outs, restructuring of any kind, switching to some new plan for some new thing for the new year. The only way it makes sense they way it's put is if they get to see their competitors' employees or affiliates in having the job opening made public.

Maybe they are advertising their growth in advertising the opening, or wanting to see if their competitors employees want to jump ship, or are influential or want to seem that way or in a cliqueish/incestuous field or area.

The only business I can think of is a recruiting business. They interview you, determine your skill set then are able to lease you out to other companies requiring a similar skill set?

My theory is that the quote got a little mangled or misinterpreted by the Asker, quite possibly with the person on the other end of the phone playing the role of less-than-perfectly-articulate accomplice in miscommunication.

I was interviewed at a place once *cough*largest private home in north america now shuffling millions of tourists through at $40 a pop*cough* and they made me jump through all kinds of hoops, finally ending up with a second, phone interview that I had to sneak in someone elses' office as I was currently at work. At the end of the interview, they told me that they had ALREADY hired someone else, but they liked to interview people - for the practice. They just liked to interview people. I was furious. I have since heard from others that this is fairly standard procedure at this particular establishment. I'm wondering if that's what the poster encountered. I will also say that right up there as a close second in the fury sweepstakes is the woman who I interviewed for a position that she had no intention of ever taking, just because she felt she needed more interview practice. I do not now and did not then have time to interview candidates who don't actually want a job, not to mention that I passed over some qualified people who did want the job so I could put this woman on the interview list. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

That makes a lot more sense, wolfdog. They probably said something like, "We like to interview a lot of applicants because with a business like ours (growing as much as it does, new clients, blah, blah, whatever) there's always a chance we may be hiring".

And he/she heard something like, "We like to interview a lot of applicants because with a business like ours, it's way to get new clients".

What boggles the mind is why the interviewers would reveal that they regularly interview people to promote business.

"they like to interview people a lot because the nature of their business, interviews expose prospective clients to their business." Wtf?

Pyramid schemes always involve the "sellers" selling everything they can to their families and buying much themselves, like Amway reps buying all of their household products from Amway.

Kirby vaccuum cleaner salespeople and the company that sells those knife sets and probably many similar companies work on a similar scheme: The new employee, promised unGodly revenue, "learns to do demos" by demo-ing on family and friends, who inevitably buy some product. A few weeks (or days) later the employee learns the whole thing sucks and quits. But the company made a few sales.

Rinse, repeat, lather...

Young people usually take these jobs, kids who don't know that if it looks too good to be true...

The only way I could see it working would be if they interview other people in their industry for the position, and try to ask questions that reveal potential clients for their product that they hadn't thought of.

Companies do this to marketing agencies all the time. "What would you do with, say, a naming issue like ours?" Or they ask you to take a look at their strategy, their organizational structure. Then they have you do a proposal of what you'd change and your general process for that. Then they don't hire anyone and they do it themselves. Maybe there was some similar deal going on?

I had this work the opposite for me. I've interviewed somewhere, only to tell them that hiring anyone wasn't an economically smart move -- that they should just bring someone in freelance for a month a year and I gave them my basic outline of how I'd suggest they'd accomplish it. (I'm that cocky.) They wanted to hire the firm I work for to achieve it, but luckily I steered them away. "How did I get this lead? Well, I was thinking of jumping ship..."

Maybe they're a freelancing group, looking to be in contact with people who work in large firms that hire freelancers? Career consultants? Maybe they make some technology for that industry and they want as many professionals exposed to it as possible?

I've been brought in for interviews that they never intended on hiring me for so I could show them my portfolio and they could see what my (big, well-known) firm was working on. Or so they could feel superior and just pick on the place I work for.

Man, some people completely suck.

I think the company has the strange idea that maybe someone they interview will want to buy/have a need for some of their services...

- insurance salesman for sleazy insurance company that preys on uneducated consumers?
- multi-level marketing scheme that targets people looking for work/going broke?
- Knife sales?
- Condo timeshares?
- FBI sting?

Dirtbags.