Pros and Cons of "Practice" Interviewing

A recruiter I know recently gave a presentation to a networking group where she pleaded to everyone, "On behalf of recruiters everywhere, I beg you, please don't interview for practice.  Only interview when you want the job."  I could certainly see her point.  After all, if I were a recruiter and I spent countless hours searching for candidates, preparing them for interviews, talking them up with the company, and getting them in the door for multiple interviews only to have them turn around after all that effort and say, "No thanks!  Just kidding!" I'd probably be pretty tempted to heave something against the wall (or in their general direction) myself.

There's just one problem:  Companies do this all the time. 

And no, two wrongs don't make for a right, and if a practice is wrong for a firm it's certainly wrong for a job-seeker.  But as readers of this blog know, many firms leave zombie job descriptions online even if they're in a hiring freeze or have no plans to fill a particular position.  Others - particularly large consulting firms - regularly interview for "fit" as part of a rolling or ongoing process to keep their fingers on the pulse of available talent.  Once the screening process is complete and "fit" is determined, the company then looks to see if there is an opening that would fit that particular candidate or fill a particular need on a project.  If no such fit exists, the candidate is told, "Thanks for playing!  Please keep checking our Web site..."  And that's the end of that.

Leaving aside the frustration on the candidate's part - all that preparation, research, practice, gradually elevated levels of expectation - such practices don't really put the companies that utilize them in the best possible light, either.  Firms that burn too many candidates in this manner can quickly become blacklisted on informal networks and risk having their brand name tarnished in the blogosphere. 

Perhaps the best thing that can be said is that interested candidates should stick to mock interviews with friends and associates.  And companies should learn to be up front with candidates when interviewing them about whether there is an actual position waiting for them at the end of the process or if the entire series of conversations is simply speculative. 

A little honesty might go a long way.