Unable to attend an interview???

KingK

Hi, looking for a bit of advice. I'v got a call for an interview tommorrow but am unable to attend for certain reasons. Would I seem cheeky calling them back and asking to re-schedule to the next day? There are no ways of me making the interview on the day they have asked me in. I can't really say the reason I can't attend on the day, anybody got a good 'excuse' that would seem normal and make them re-schedule?

mikemac1

Tell them as soon as you can, more notice the better

Shouldn't be a problem, the people for your 1st interview are probably team leaders/mangers so they have other stuff to do instead

I don't have an excuse for you.

But you do need to call them today, not tomorrow morning

py2006

Yea, explain the situation politely and honestly. Ask them would it be possible to re-arrange. If they say "no", then it wasn't meant to be.

keith16

mikemac1 wrote: »

Tell them as soon as you can, more notice the better

Shouldn't be a problem, the people for your 1st interview are probably team leaders/mangers so they have other stuff to do instead

I don't have an excuse for you.

But you do need to call them today, not tomorrow morning

All you have to do is call back and say something along the lines of "I'm really sorry but I have something else on tomorrow and that time, slipped my mind completely, any way we can re-scheduled?"

Shouldn't be a problem for them and I would be shocked if they turned around and said, "oh yeah, what are you doing!?"

KingK

Just off the phone with them. Explained my situation asked very nicely if we could re-schedule and got told not so nicely NO. That was that then they said thanks for your call good bye :eek:

To say I am fuming would be an understatement :mad:

py2006

Well then sounds like somebody you wouldn't want to work for.

miec

Hi Op

On the one hand I can understand that you are fuming but I can understand their reasoning too. The company I am with had advertised a position late last year and were extremely accommodating for one interviewee both on the first and second interview as they kept having to reschedule. When they were offered the job that person told the company I am with that they had another job offer elsewhere. If I had been the management I would not have allowed someone to reschedule an interview apart from illness, court appearance or death of a loved one / family. Sounds harsh but the way I look at it if you want the job you will come to the interview. Maybe that was one of your reasons and if so my apologies but if it was something else well...maybe it worked out best for everyone involved.

Daftendirekt

KingK wrote: »

Just off the phone with them. Explained my situation asked very nicely if we could re-schedule and got told not so nicely NO. That was that then they said thanks for your call good bye :eek:

To say I am fuming would be an understatement :mad:

Sorry to hear that. Hopefully something better will come along!

sharper

KingK wrote: »

Just off the phone with them. Explained my situation asked very nicely if we could re-schedule and got told not so nicely NO. That was that then they said thanks for your call good bye :eek:

Is this the same person you've been in contact with all along? If not then try and get a hold of them and explain your situation.

If it is, well screw them. Stuff happens and people end up being unable to make it at the arranged time.

bluestrattos

I'm a bit curious, why didn't you said in the first place when they called you, that you couldn't make it, and sugest another date that would suit both sides ?

confuseddotcom

Was going to say that you would/should only be getting a stab at 1 Interview like everyone else looking for a job as there's so many un-employed out there. But if ya explained yerself genuinely to them and they couldn't even re-schedule that does sound kinda harsh.

Maybe put in another call and just say could they keep you on the list? It could turn out that a couple more along the way may not be able to attend and if they acknowledge that you're really eager to get an Interview they might a big might though, be generous enough to give you another shot at an Interview. Or they could end up holding more Interviews, an odd time an Interviewer could get caught up with other work or Meetings or whatever and they may decide to hold the Interviews a different day, so it'd be no harm to have it said that yer still interested in an Interview with them.

Panthro

Might have more luck in here, moved from TGC.
Panthro

KingK

I do understand where they are coming from,as I said in my first post I thought I could come across as cheeky. I think an above poster is correct in what they have said that this might not be the type of person you want to work for/with. I have a genuine reason I could not attend and if they can't be understanding of that it's thier loss as I know myself there is not many better candidates for this job. Thanks for the feedback everyone. Slightly off topic here but i'd like to say since joining boards.ie if ever I have a question of any kind i'm guaranteed an answer on here. Thanks

Mr. Loverman

Just because they couldn't accommodate you doesn't mean they are a bad employer.

It is possible they were only able to interview you tomorrow (or today or whenever) because the HR person is going on holidays the following day for a few weeks, or something like that.

murphym7

Giving a candidate one days notice for an interview is a joke, shows poor planning.

Faolchu

murphym7 wrote: »

Giving a candidate one days notice for an interview is a joke, shows poor planning.

i wouldnt go that far they could be under pressure to fill a role, but expecting someone to be available at such short notice and then dumping a candidate because they are not is not on in my view.

OP the way i look at it if they didnt reschedule its not meant to be, any time i've had this happen i just forget about it. can i ask was it direct with the employer or through an agency?

Mrs OBumble

Faolchu wrote: »

i wouldnt go that far they could be under pressure to fill a role, but expecting someone to be available at such short notice and then dumping a candidate because they are not is not on in my view.

Totally disagree: It's an employer's market, there are plenty of people who could do the job, the employer has no legal or moral responsibility to be nicer to one candidate than to the others.

If the candidate wants the job, they'll sort their **** out and be at the interview. If not, they won't. Simple ... as far as the employer is concerned. Fair - yes, so long. Nice - no, but they don't have to be, so long as there's no discrimination on age, sex, the other things in the Act. Get's the best possible candidate - possibly not, but for lots of jobs good enough is just fine.

tatli_lokma

murphym7 wrote: »

Giving a candidate one days notice for an interview is a joke, shows poor planning.

true, but the OP originally agreed to the time and day. They may have a large pool of interviewees - in which case they might be trying to fit in as many as possible.

Its a shame they would not allow OP to reschedule, but they might have their reasons - plenty of other candidates, a short amount of time to get the interviews conducted etc.

Faolchu

JustMary wrote: »

Totally disagree: It's an employer's market, there are plenty of people who could do the job, the employer has no legal or moral responsibility to be nicer to one candidate than to the others.

i personally would think any recruiter would understand that a person is not available for immediate interview as people may need to arrange time off from their existing job, could have a hospital appointment or other commitment.

as for yoru post everything you've said is 100% correct however the employer saw something they liked on the CV that made them pick up the phone. so to then be inflexible is to me baffling, and if it happened to me i'd work on the assumption that i had just dodged a bullet

Gurgle

JustMary wrote: »

Totally disagree: It's an employer's market, there are plenty of people who could do the job, the employer has no legal or moral responsibility to be nicer to one candidate than to the others.

Choosing someone to hire isn't about 'nice', its about finding the best person for the job.

Rejecting someone because they can't make it for interview on this one particular day is just stupid. Its on a par with the throwing half the heap of CVs in the bin to avoid hiring unlucky people.

-edit- The OP cancelled at a day's notice, how long ago was the interview scheduled?

tatli_lokma

Faolchu wrote: »

i personally would think any recruiter would understand that a person is not available for immediate interview as people may need to arrange time off from their existing job, could have a hospital appointment or other commitment........however the employer saw something they liked on the CV that made them pick up the phone. so to then be inflexible is to me baffling, and if it happened to me i'd work on the assumption that i had just dodged a bullet

Gurgle wrote: »

-edit- The OP cancelled at a day's notice, how long ago was the interview scheduled?

I think people are missing a very pertinant detail here - as Gurgle mentioned, OP first off agreed to the appointment and then with less than 24 hours notice cancelled (OP posted in the afternoon and interview was for the next morning). Furthermore as Gurgle pointed out, at no point did OP say they were given the interview slot with 24 hour notice - for all we know the interview could have been scheduled days or weeks before. It is the OP who wants to reschedule with less than 24 hours, not the interviewer who insisted they come for interview tomorrow or else!

OP hasn't said what sector they are in, and we don't know what excuse they went with in the end, so it is hard to tell, but the industry they are in might require highly committed people, and to cancel at such short notice without a valid excuse could look very flaky.

I know from my point of view, if I were under a strict timetable for interviewing, scheduled interviews days or weeks ago and then one of the candidates rang within 24hrs of the interview to reschedule, I might also think, stuff ya, you had your chance, I can't be bothered moving other committments around to accommodate you, there are plenty of other candidates. I don't think that is totally unreasonable. Unless the person had a really good excuse I would tell them they'd missed their shot.