'Sorry, I didn't know this was theatre class': Job seekers push back on companies that interview when they've already decided

A post on Reddit’s r/recruitinghell has called out a practice that job seekers have long suspected but is not acknowledged openly: companies calling people in for interviews when an internal candidate has already been identified, or when the decision has effectively already been made.

The original poster’s argument is not that companies must hire everyone they interview. It is that external candidates who show up having spent money on gas, interview clothes, and time off work, and who are carrying the emotional weight of hoping this might finally be the break they need, deserve to know if they are walking into a process that is already settled.

“Some people are already on edge financially and emotionally. An interview can feel like a real opportunity to finally get some stability,” they wrote. “I just think applicants deserve honesty and consideration for the time, money, and emotional energy they put into these interviews.”

What Reddit said

The thread confirmed that the practice is widespread and recognised from multiple angles, including from people who have been on the inside of the hiring process.

One commenter shared a direct example: “I was once hired for a position after doing the job as a temp for a year and a half. Realistically nobody else who was interviewed had a chance, and that was completely unfair to them.”

Another commenter who had witnessed the internal conversations described the justification typically offered: “It was usually shaped as ‘due diligence.’ HR was not time-boxed into a specific timeframe for completing any part of the recruiting or hiring process. No consequences for lack of performance.”

One commenter raised the practical absurdity of it from the employer’s side: “I want to know why companies are making more work for themselves if they already have someone in mind.”

The sharpest response in the thread came from someone who named what the whole exercise actually is: “Not only insensitive but a huge waste of time for everyone. Sorry, I didn’t know this was theatre class where we all pretend.”

In a job market where candidates are already absorbing enormous amounts of rejection, uncertainty, and financial stress, the theatrical interview is not a minor inconvenience. It is another drain on resources and hope that many people cannot easily afford.