To think being 50 minutes late for an interview isn't acceptable?

[DareToCare]

This is from the employer...

My interview was scheduled for a certain time, I got there 10 minutes early and announced my arrival etc. All fine. 20 minutes later, someone comes and tells me "sorry, but they're running a bit late".

45 minutes later and I'm still sitting there.

They shoved quite an extensive few tests in front of me before the interview started, after being 50 minutes late.

Needless to say I was quite frazzled but done them anyway. They weren't very apologetic and didn't seem bothered that I had to wait, as if it was them doing me a great favour.

AIBU to say this is highly unprofessional?

Red flag for me too. At the very least they should have given you an indication of how late they were running and offered you the option of coming back at another time. There really is no excuse for not being on time. If the previous interview is running late, then the timing was badly planned.

Interviews work both ways. Which means that both sides need to be on time, ready and prepared.

I wouldn't have minded so much if they were genuinely apologetic but they didn't seem to think it a big deal at all

YANBU I once walked out of an interview after being made to wait for 4 hours! It was a teaching post - I did my lesson obs at 8am and was still waiting at 1pm so I walked out. If they can't run an interview day what will they be like running a large organisation!

To be that late is a bit ridiculous it would make me re think if I even want to work for that company!

I had one earlier this year where there was a long wait, but it was in a chemist and I could see how manic they were, They did apologise... However the interview itself was not great. Staff had no boundaries at all. I was in a little consulting room with the manager and staff kept opening hatch in the door to this room and shouting through it at her. No apologies for interrupting. She got up frequently to see to staff. About ten times in total and often gone for 5-10 minutes a time. It wasn't life and death stuff.. I could hear what was going on. One of the q's the staff needed her for was re wart treatment.
I got called back about two months (!)later so they could remember who I was. Told by Head Office that it was a working interview to see how I got on behind the counter. I was all for that. When I got there I was told, 'oh could have just rang you for a chat.. didn't need to see you again'. The job vacancy is still open, actually!
And today, I had an interview that was just odd. Weird. Not professional!

Incredibly rude. I'm a recruitment manager and there would have to had been some sort of disaster to keep you waiting that long. Sounds like poor planning or poor control of the interview to me.
The 'lucky to be here' attitude grinds my gears too. It's a candidate led market now.

Very rude. At least they should have been apologetic.

I interviewed someone today and I was 3 minutes late (poor guy was left sitting alone in a meeting room waiting) and I was VERY apologetic!

I'm surprised by the consensus here. I do interview days where it is applicant after applicant all day. Of course things happen. There was a traffic pile-up last time causing one applicant to be 20 minutes late with knock-on effects for others (no doubt everyone else here thinks we should just have kicked the latecomer out and proceeded with the punctual applicants but we decided that rejecting someone after a 3-hour journey because she was 20 minutes late through no real fault of her own was worse than keeping other candidates waiting for 20 minutes). There are set questions; some answered in 20 minutes, some in 35. It's impossible to be totally precise and if we built in extra time for each interview to allow for extra-long interviews and potential traffic delays etc we would have to dedicate two days rather than one to interviews which is not logistically possible given the composition of the panel; alternatively to cut the number of interviewees in half, which I'm sure none of the applicants would choose in exchange for a punctual start. I have been kept waiting at interviews for similar reasons and it doesn't bother me in the slightest.

Frankly, shit happens in life and if an applicant walked out because interviews were delayed I would be delighted to see her go as she wouldn't be able to cope with the realities of my workplace. Similarly, the NHS is currently crushingly underfunded and nothing runs quite as it should - if a lack of administrative perfection causes you to strop off then I'm not sure it's the place for you.

Hands up who wants a job at Emmaline's place? 😂

Isn't 50 minutes about standard for being kept waiting by the NHS. It happened to me twice only last week. 😔

I'd be walking out if left waiting that long. Far too many - shit - employers don't understand that interviews are as much about selling the job to the candidate as it is the other way round.

Interview goes both ways. Do you want to work for someone like this.

My view is always to pay close attention to how you are treated during the interview process, as it is indicative of how you will be treated during the role.

Yes, stuff happens, but making apologies and trying to manage expectations always helps.

It happens, I interview a lot and stuff happens, the panel need to chat/interviewees talk a good deal and we want to offer them the opportunity to tell us about themselves no ask questions. It's annoying that they run late, but surely 50 minutes of your time is worth the job ultimately? I always ensure I leave enough time if I'm attending so I don't have to rush back etc.

I was called for an interview at 2pm, told it would last around 45 min. Had to be at work at 4pm so no problem.

At 2pm they came and said "okay, time for the your test". Um, okay. "Yes, HR didn't tell you, sorry. It's 30 mins". Okay fine, car on a meter for 1.5 hours, should be okay.

Started test at 2.10pm. 2.40 comes and goes. No one comes. 2.50 nothing. At 3pm I call my 4pm job and say I think I'm going to be late.

3.10 taken to interview. Rattle through in around 35 mins. Panel member tells me I/v was "great" on way out. Dash to car (no ticket, thankfully) and make it to 4pm work by a whisker.

Hear nothing for a couple of days. Phone for info. Fobbed off. Phone again after about a week. Fobbed off and treated like an irritant. Promised a phone call. It never came. This was June last year. I'm guessing I didn't get it 😂 .

Given the passage of time, might as well name them. Royal College of Physicians, I'm looking at you.

TinDog that is shocking!

Very, very rude and a big red flag. And Emmeline, either organise yourselves better or apologise like fuck to the people whose time you've wasted. It sounds a bloody shambles. Or yes, only interview the number of people you actually have time for with allowances, like sane companies do.

I have had this. Went home and emailed to withdraw. I'm not interested in working somewhere that badly run or arrogant about someone else's time.

I went to an interview for a senior role.

Arrived. Oh sorry Mr X is stuck at court. He'll be back soon.

40 mins later..sorry he doesn't think he'll be back now. You can see his assistant.

Assistant would have been my assistant if I'd got the job, so it was completely pointless. They went into receivership a few years later. Given how disorganized they were, I'm surprised it wasn't sooner.

Yanbu

One of the men I interviewed ran half an hour late. He was incredibly miffed when at five minutes to the next candidate I cut him short and closed the interview.

PenelopeChipShop isn't it? Laughable incompetence and absolute contempt for candidates. I get that stuff happens and things can get delayed, but no idea how any organisation can think that's okay.

Emmeline, tests should be given with a set timescale so it has an end point and you see what can be achieved in that time.

Also in my industry you would get yourself a reputation for being disorganised and wasting people's time which would put people off applying to you.

I can afford to be choosy as I am not desperate to move jobs so things like a poor interview experience would put me off taking a job.

I think it depends on why the delay happened and what you were told tbh. If it was an IT job for example and just as you arrived the whole hospital IT system failed in an unusual way and it was a priority to fix that so patients weren't adversely affected, for example, then that would be acceptable. But you would expect some sort of explanation.

I work for the public sector. Being late for everything seems to be the default setting where I work. It goes against the grain for me, it is so unprofessional and there are no consequences. A few of us are seen as oddballs because we meet deadlines, arrive on time etc. I wish my interview had been late. I would have taken it as a sign not to work where I work!

Well, you know who you don't want to work for...

Interesting. Last set of interviews I did, one candidate had a total anxiety attack 10 mins in and was uninterviewable for a good 25 mins after that. I opted to give them 5 mins to recompose themselves and then restarted the interview. This delayed every other interview but I felt it was worth it as their technical skills were rare and needed. As an employer I am going to look for the best candidate, not penalise someone on the demands of someone else who thinks they world should run to their timetable.