You’ve likely been in a situation where you are participating in either a phone or face-to-face interview in which one of a couple of scenarios came about that make you wonder if this employer is really that interested in hiring you.
First, if you’re in a phone interview, you’re scheduled a time to speak with the hiring manager, and when the time arrives, you hear nothing. So, you wait and wait. Most times, they never call and it’s essentially a waste of your time. If this is the case, you’ll likely never hear for this employer again and that’s that. However, there is the rare occasion where they get back in touch and try to re-schedule.
At this point, you either may have already lost interest enough in the position. But let’s say you’ve gathered enough sympathy to have the phone interviewed rescheduled. You’d think there would be enough diligence on the employer end to make good on the scheduled time.
Not in this scenario. This time, however, you call the scheduler back to see what the delay is all about. They, in turn, make an effort to connect you with your interviewer. However, in this case, you get interviewed by one of their surrogates. Surprisingly enough, soon after that interview ends, you’re invited to participate in a face-to-face interview.
But is that invitation really worth it?
The scenario screams of an employer that either is too busy to be bothered with the important task of hiring top-notch candidates or is simply not interested with the entire process. Either way, this has to constitute some sort of red flag.
Even prior to the first scheduled phone interview, you should be well-prepared by researching this organization. And that may even include insights from other job seekers. Glassdoor, a site that contains user-generated intelligence on numerous employers, may also have comments about interviews. And in this case, you may have already found that your situation is not unique.
First impressions are everything, as job seekers well know. And as much as you’re trying to make a good impression on the employer, you’d want for them to do the same. Missing scheduled interview times does not set a good tone on either side, and it’s up to you to decide whether you even trust the employer enough to believe they will make good on a do-over.