What to Do if You’re Running Late to An Interview
One of the golden rules of interviewing is to always, always, always show up early. Not an absurd amount of time before your interview starts but around 15 minutes early is considered the sweet spot. However, sometimes situations are out of your control. What should you do if you’re running late to an interview? Follow these steps!
1. Call As Soon As Possible: The first thing you do when you know you’re running late is to call anyone and everyone you can think of who may be relevant to the interview process to let them know you’re delayed. Call your recruiter, call the person interviewing you and their assistant if they have one, and call any of your points of contact at the company if they helped you get your foot in the door. Make sure everyone is notified so you aren’t leaving a room full of potential employers waiting and wondering where you are.
2. Explain but Don’t Over Explain: From flat tires to traffic jams to busted alarms, feel free to give your reason for being late over the phone but keep it short and sweet. You can elaborate in person if need be but these calls are not for making excuses they’re for notifying the parties important to your interview and seeing where you should go from there.
3. Offer to Reschedule for Their Convenience: If you’re so delayed that you can’t make it in that day or even if you’re running more than twenty minutes late, you should offer to reschedule at the interviewer’s convenience. They may not have allotted enough time to give you a proper interview with your tardiness factored in so it’s important to offer up this option and potentially prepare yourself for the possibility that they’ll ask you not to come in at all (punctuality is an essential for some companies).
4. Show Up Prepared and Ready to Impress: Whether you’ve rescheduled or they’ve agreed to wait until you arrive, make sure you show up to the interview prepared and ready to impress. No matter how out of your control the circumstances are, tardiness may have dinged their initial impression of you and it’s up to you to go above and beyond to make up for it. After all, if they have two interviews with identically qualified people the only thing they’ll have to go by is that you showed up late while another candidate showed up early. Make sure you dazzle them with your preexisting knowledge of the company, your ability to listen and ask important questions, and if there’s a follow up interview do everything you can to show up early for that one.
5. Apologize in Your Thank You Note: Thank you notes after an interview add a personal touch that will set you a cut above the competition. Even if you aren’t late for an interview you should always get their contact information and email accounts so you can write a thank you letter to each person involved in your interview. And, when you were late, it’s important to apologize again for your delay and thank them for adjusting their schedules to fit you in. Acknowledging that their time is important will let them know that you aren’t the kind of person who shows up late on a regular basis.
Running late for an interview can feel like a nightmare but it’s important to take a deep breath and follow the logical steps listed above. If you do that you could still have a great chance at landing the job you want!