Human capital is recognized as one of the most critical sources of value creation and competitive advantage in organizations, and the job interview, as a pivotal stage in the recruitment and selection process, plays a key role in human resource management decisions. Despite this importance, much of the existing literature has focused primarily on the technical and structural dimensions of interviews, giving comparatively little attention to the candidate's lived, human experience. This study aims to explain employees' lived experience of recruitment processes and job interviews in recent years.



This is a qualitative study employing a descriptive phenomenological approach based on Colaizzi's method. The research population consists of employees working in private-sector companies who, within the past five years, have undergone specialized, multi-stage job interviews and currently hold at least six months of tenure in their present organization. Purposive and convenience sampling continues until theoretical saturation is reached. Data are collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using Colaizzi's seven-step method.



The expected findings can contribute to designing fairer, more effective interview processes, developing internal organizational standards and guidelines, and training interviewers, offering practical insights for human resource managers.



Keywords: Lived Experience, Job Interview, Recruitment and Selection Process.