Reapproaching after failed intervieI recently had an interview scheduled with a company and when I got there, the hiring manager was not there. She had completely forgotten about it. The receptionist told me the hm wanted to reschedule. I said I would call the hm to set up a time. That was about two weeks ago. I never called back to reschedule. At the time, I felt like this was not very professional behavior on the part of the hm and maybe not a place I'd want to work. I had several other opps I was pursuing so I let it go. Now, a lot of those other things have fizzled out and I am wishing I had gone for the interview. Is it too late to contact the hm and see if the position is still open and I can interview? Any advice on what I should say? Ummm... I supposed you could TRY, but really what are you going to say? I was ticked off and had a tantrum because something came up and you forgot about me, so I decided to teach you a lesson and blow you off right back. That was good until no one else wanted to hire me so now I've decided you're not really the devil incarnate and maybe a paycheck from you wouldn't doom my immortal soul to hell. I think you were short-sighted and took things WAAAY too personally. I'd move on from this one and remember this in the future. Things do come up for hiring managers, appointments do get missed from time to time. You can choose to move on from them, or you can give them another shot but I doubt you can change your mind and do both.
Tess
Thanks for your advice. I would appreciate any other advice though, maybe from someone who doesn't feel the need to be so sarcastic. I think I could've done without the first paragraph of your post. Sorry, guess that's just me taking things WAAAY too personally!
BB2307-- You might have dodged a loser here. Do check this employer out and interview there if you still can, but keep in mind that any employer that "drops the ball" on something as important as an interview might well do likewise by, not telling you about a rush or major project that your boss wants done, knew about for weeks, but "forgot"--right until that evening or weekend you had something important planned, maybe with family or friends, for weeks or even months yourself. Get as much information as you can about this employer's treatment of its employees, real philosophy on work-life balance, and the like before even thinking of committing. Tess-- You know, for most of us who have to work for a living--and especially for those of us who very much need to find a new job--in this Darwinian, social-safety-net-sparse economy, the matter of finding a job is very personal. So don't tell people BB2307 that they are "short-sighted andt[aking] things WAAAY too personally" when hiring managers or otheremployer representatives engage in behaviors that, whenever job seekersor employees engage in them, result in automatic adverse consequences. Why is it that in your world, employers should have all the power--in many ways, be little kings and queens or even gods--and get away with anything they want while we "little" job seekers and employees should have to kowtow to their every quirk and whim? Although I am (relatively) well ensconced in the job I've now held for over four years, I, like many other employees in modern America, have had more than my fill of rudeness and arrogance from certain employers, especially during my last major job hunt. If an employer treats a job seeker--at a time when both employer and applicant are supposedly on their best behaviors--rudely, it does not speak well for how it treats its employees. In some cases where potential employers have treated me poorly, I've asked some if they realize that they're dealing with a potential future customer, supplier, vendor--or even boss, and informed them that because of their rudeness, I will do all I can to avoid doing business with them and urge others to do likewise. I also make it known to them that we workers do network and compare notes, and that the word does get around about employers that treat employees and applicants well--and those that don't. I've long believed that working people need a version of Angie's List, Consumer Reports, or the like by which they can rate and learn about employers and how they treat employers and others. There is power in numbers, Tess. Employers that treat us workers rudely would do well to remember that there are a lot more of us workers than there are of them, and that we're fed up. Stop trying, as you so often do on these boards, to excuse or justify the unjustifiable. The employer is not always right, nor should it always have all the power. lmem Yes - things come up and sometimes a scheduled interview does not occur. But unless it's literally a life or death matter or a family or personal emergency has happened totally unexpectedly, the manager must notify the job seeker about the cancellation of an interview as soon as possible or tell his assistant or some other employee to make the call for him immediately. This "ditz" of a hiring manager simply forgot her appointment? What a business person! She certainly does not sound qualified to be a manager! But this same person is probably a hypocrite and has a different set of rules for her subordinates! How would she react and what would she say if one of her employees forgot to complete a project? You know what! That's no excuse at all! You do not forget things as important as interviewing a potential employee! Better yet- he should scurry around by phone to find someone else who may be qualified enough to do that interview. It could be a screening interview and a whole lot better than doing nothing and letting the candidate leave the site without being interviewed! After that, there must be sincere apologies made to the job seeker immediately. Everyone's time is valuable and that includes the job seeker's time as well. There's an epidemic of rudeness among many of those in charge (managers, employers, supervisors, etc.) and the worst part about these awful situations are the excuses and rationalizations made by them and those who support them! They simply don't give a damn when all they have to do is going into their files and look at their list of other "warm bodies" and call them for interviews! Empathy is missing as well. They do not put themselves in the shoes of job seekers in too many cases!
Bunzo While an interviewer "forgetting about the interview" is almost unforgivable, the meer fact that you told that the hiring manager forgot is what gets me upset. I will agree with everyone that things do come up such as shortened deadlines, priority projects, etc that could make a busy person crazy to the point of other things slipping his/her mind. And, if a hring manager is so busy that something like this happens, that hiring manager would be much better off having the receptionist say something like: "Mr. Brady is so sorry, but an emergency has come up and he has to put his schedule on hold for today. Unfortunately, there was no time to reach you before your appointment. He would like to re-schedule your interview and I can do that now if you would like." Actually, the receptionist should have just said that herself without any prompting from the hiring manager. But, for the receptionist, an assistant or even the hiring manager to say, "Oh, guess I forgot", is rude and unprofessional. If you want to call, go ahead and call. I would probably say that the chances of the job having remained unfilled after this amount of time is slim, but everything is worth trying. What you can say after you call and are connected to the hiring manager might be tricky. I thought of many things, but they all ended with "I had an emergency and couldn't call right back and then I forgot" but, then I thought that was probably to biotch-y. How about: "Good afternoon, Mr. Brady. My name is BB2307 and I was scheduled to have an interview with you as an administrative aide on September 27th. Unfortunately something had come up and you were unable to attend the interview. I was under the impression that someone would call back to reschedule after the crises ended but I haven't heard anything so I figured I would call you to check on the status of the position and your schedule for interviews."
If that hiring manager was professional, he/she would have called you personally to apologize and to reschedule at YOUR time schedule. I did that once and even took the candidate out to lunch on my expense. She got the job because I was impressed with her professionalism. It won't hurt to call and ask if they will offer another interview. I would call them several days before the meeting to make sure they are aware that you will be taking the time to come in. If you don't ask, you will not know, will you? So go and start making those calls!! Good luck and I hope you get the job! Here's the thing- You can't control anyone except yourself. It doesn't matter if the HM had an emergency or forgot for no good reason. It doesn't matter if the receptionist should have said it differently or not. The only thing this poster can do is decide if they want to pursue this or not and you can't do both. If you want to blow them off then do that. If you want to give them another shot then do that. But you can't blow them off for two weeks, then decide to give them another shot. That's the question on the table, not what was really going on in the office or whether this one person in this company was unprofessional or not.
Tess But you can't blow them off for two weeks, then decide to give them another shot. That's the question on the table, not what was really going on in the office or whether this one person in this company was unprofessional or not. (Tess) Actually to bring a quote from the original poster into this post. His questions were : Is it too late to contact the hm and see if the position is still open and I can interview? Any advice on what I should say? I believe everyone has posted that it will never hurt to call and inquire about interviewing but don't hold your breath. We all also put our two cents in regarding the unprofessional and rude way the situation was handled on the interviewer's part because it was done unprofessionally and it was done rudely. That is our opinion and I, for one, am never at a loss for words when it comes to stating my opinion. These forums are particularly good for me to do that. Noone has said that the interviewees can control the interviewer as to what is being done and/or said, but when something has been done wrong or ineptly, it hurts the interviewee to a degree that if this is taken personally, it is because the interviewee has a shred of professionalism. It hurts when that professional demeanor if trod upon by unprofessional interviewers and representatives of that interviewer. Well written, spoken, insightful,educated and real... If a was in position to offer a position to you, no need for your resume, your response couldn't have been more on the money.... If I was your boss, you'd deserve a raise, If I was a customer you'd have my business forever.. If only more understanding of the frustrations were felt as you defined are, and there importance we'd all be better off.. Just hope the person whos' managerial skills, who so flipantly dismissed the interview realizes what subtle mesages they project of the firm they represent, and what a great employee, customer, or collegue they forever will be remembered by..... Karmas a real thing....
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