When interviewing for a job, you want to make a good first impression. You might do this by reviewing common interview questions and making sure you arrive on time. But even when you do everything right, there might still be times when your interview doesn’t go quite as planned, such as when the interviewer doesn’t show up for your appointment.In this article, we share what to do if your interviewer is a no-show for a scheduled interview.
How To Reduce Interview No-Shows
What to do when an interviewer doesn’t show up
Follow these tips on what to do if your interviewer fails to show up to your interview:
Decide if you want to try again
Before reaching out to the interviewer, decide if you want to try interviewing again. Realize that if this is the first time this happened, they may have made an honest mistake or have a good reason. If this is your second or third time rescheduling, it may be a sign that this isnt the best opportunity for you. In these cases, you may even want to reach out to their human resources department and request that they remove your application.
Send them a professional email
Once you determine you want to give the interviewer a second chance, send them an email. Explain when and where you were supposed to meet. Let them know that you waited 30 minutes for them to show up. While you should let them know you arrived on time, you should also remain polite and professional. Let them know you would like to reschedule your meeting.
How to follow up after an interviewer no-show
Having an interview not show up for a meeting can conjure feelings of frustration and disappointment. But there are things you can do to either turn the experience around or move forward productively. Follow these steps to follow up with an interviewer who doesnt show up to your meeting:
Respond proactively
If your interviewer doesn’t show, the first thing you want to do is email your interviewer (or the recruiter who scheduled it) 5-10 minutes after your designated start time.
A quick no-blame message will maintain your positive rapport, and ideally allow you to start the interview (albeit a little late) or reschedule as promptly as possible.
“Just checking in to make sure you’re still available for our 2pm ET interview today. I hope everything is okay on your end and if you need to reschedule, just let me know a few alternative windows that work for you this week. Thank you!”
Or if you’re emailing a recruiter:
“Just checking in as I haven’t yet heard from [name] for our 2pm ET interview today. I hope everything is okay on her end; if we need to reschedule, just let me know a few alternative windows that work this week. Thank you!”
Once you’ve taken care of logistics, you’ll have time to think and feel through the situation and chart your next steps.
Why do interview no-shows happen?
Before we get to remedies, let’s diagnose the underlying issues. Why do interview no-shows happen in the first place?
Here are some potential causes of your troubles:
Life happens. Sometimes, the candidate did everything they could to be at the interview, but something happens out of their control and they’re unable to attend. Hopefully they sent a last-minute message before the meeting, but that’s not always possible. There’s not much you can do about these cases.
It’s possible your communication about the interview time, date, or location wasn’t as clear as you thought it was. For example, there might be a timezone mix-up, your meeting invite may have ended up in the candidate’s spam folder, or they’re just having trouble getting your webinar software going.
For many of the professionals I’ve spoken with, it comes down to priorities. Recruiting is essential to team and company success, and yet very rarely is it someones first priority on the job. Hence, interviews can become one the easiest meetings to ditch or delay when we’re feeling overwhelmed at work.
I hope for the day when we all view interviews as among the most important meetings on our calendar, because an interviewee is likely the person who prepared the most, who cares the most, and who can most benefit from our attention that day. (We all know how hard it is to maintain optimism and confidence while job hunting!)
Does this happen to everyone or is it just me? And what’s the best way to respond? Should I write off the organization, or do I just need to suck it up and accept this as part of my job search? I’m feeling seriously frustrated and am interested in your take on all this.
I know (and teach) what it takes to prepare exceptionally for an interview. I’m guessing you invested hours if not days preparing — and likely losing some sleep — in anticipation of what could be a career-altering conversation. You put your heart and sweat into showing up on time and as your best self.
Liz Cohen is Founder & Head Coach at Next Step Careers, a career education company that helps todays job seekers master the new tools required for succeeding in the new job market. Liz authors regular publications on job search best practices, and offers free resources for job seekers at ns-careers.com in addition to her award-winning online course, Land Your Dream Job.
FAQ
What do you do if an interviewer doesn’t show up?
- Give them time. While being late may be a sign of unprofessionalism, life does happen. …
- Double-check your information. …
- Be polite. …
- Check your inbox. …
- Try calling them. …
- Try to be flexible. …
- Know when to move on.
What happens if an interviewer doesn’t show up on Zoom?
How long should I wait for interviewer to show up?
Is it normal for people to not show up for interviews?
