To have left this interview?

[Iwishthaticouldbelikethecoolkids]

I was scheduled yesterday to have an interview at 11am for a casual position. My 3rd interview of 3, which I found a bit OTT but anyway (the first 2 were on the phone) I was 5 mins late which I was stressed about, but I emailed in advance to let them know.
I arrived and it was in a large block of offices, I was asked by the receptionist to take a seat and they'd be with me shortly.
In the seating area, there were a group of 3 young people having a meeting/discussion. It was very heated and then I realised they were talking about the company I'd applied to, and they were employees/management. It was very bitchy and honestly really didn't give me a good impression of the place. They were constantly blaming poor leadership and saying employees are useless, unorganised and so on. Anyway, no company is perfect but the description of it all was so negative.
I was kept waiting for 25 minutes before the receptionist came over and said they'd be with me as soon as the meeting was finished.
Well how long was that going to take? They also must have seen me waiting.
I get meetings can run over, but when you know you're meant to meet someone at 11. It just gave me a really bad impression, plus I wouldn't have had enough time to get to work later as I had no idea how long they'd be.
I waited another 5 minutes then told the receptionist I'd have to reschedule due to time constraints, and left. They said they pass the message on.
Maybe I was rude, but it's also rude to keep me waiting for at least half an hour with no indication of when the interview will start. I also got a very poor impression of the company from what I overheard.

I will post on whatever I like, and if I don't like a post I will challenge it.

Would being under 25 put you off of a prospective MP? Two candidates in our areas by-election are 25 or under. Both look like schoolboys and neither has had any life experience at all.

Hahahahaha the irony !

I interview at top management level and I honestly wouldn't have a problem if somebody was 5 minutes late and they let me know in advance. Shit happens, such is life. Things happen outside of our control sometimes. I once had someone unable to make an interview due to a flight delay and they apologised and assumed that was the end of the opportunity. I gave them another date and they got the job, one of my best managers now. I'm not perfect and I sometimes get stuck in traffic too 🤷🏼‍♀️.

Keeping you waiting for a long period of time isn't great but for me the discussion ongoing within earshot is very unprofessional and if I got fed this back as a reason for a candidate turning down a role then conversations would be had.

5 minutes late as you informed them, not ideal but wouldn’t be a show stopper for me.

you’re not unreasonable to be concerned about the other employees, and a bit annoyed to be kept waiting for half an hour.

however, leaving rather than have the interview (it’s the 3rd stage, so you’ve both invested in this already) is poor, and if your snippy and aggressive responses on here are what you are like when being challenged, they’ve done well to avoid you.

Bingo ..knew it was coming 😂 'they've done well to avoid you/your attitude'.

It's the go-to phrase because they don't think posters are allowed to challenge anything, should agree blindly with every response on the thread.

I was 20 minutes late for an interview the other day. Unavoidable circumstances and out of good favour I let all of the other candidates in front of me and waited over 2 hours, and apologised profusely. Would that be enough?
Sorry OP, off topic. Totally unprofessional I don't blame you.

I’m a director. I interview “head of” roles.

I know what doesn’t matter (5 mins late) and tbf I’d never keep anyone waiting the way you were.

I also know what good challenge looks like and what arsiness looks like.

Advance warning is not a get out of jail free card for being late for an interview.

Like a PP said, you'd start the interview with a mark against you as I would be wondering if you cannot attend an interview on time then your time keeping in the future is likely to be poor. You'd have to be exceptional to get any further.

Not unreasonable. A long time ago I had an interview for an international marketing position with Dyson - the vacuum cleaner people. I sat waiting in the reception for 45 minutes past the time they had given for my appointment then walked out.

Op ive only read your posts but i can tell from those that most others are being intentionally obtuse and antagonistic. People just come on here to have contrary opinions. You were not rude to be late. They were appalling. Id have left too

Well funnily I received an update. The receptionist hadn't told anyone I'd arrived, even though I asked for the interviewer by name. The interviewer emailed me later yesterday asking if everything was ok.
So sorry to burst your bubble to that minority of posters, you were desperate to make me feel like shit for being 5 minutes late and letting them know, because in your perfect little worlds you've never, ever been a minute late for anything.
You were determined to make me feel that I was terribly unprofessional and that they'd deliberately ignored me, but no, you were wrong.

Oh no, quite the contrary. Timekeeping is not my forte at all. But I do make sure I’m on time when it matters.

You are also continuing to misread posts - posters, including myself, pointed out neither side came out of this shining. You never shared what your excuse was for being late, and were awfully defensive about it instead. I certainly was not determined to make you feel shit about it, I was surprised by your attitude that it’s fine for you to be late whenever you want to, because who cares.

In any event, good luck if you give them another chance.

It depends too, on why you were five minutes late. If it’s because of traffic, then perhaps people would say you should allow for that, if you’re using your own car. If it’s public transport, then you can’t legislate for that, other than aiming for an earlier bus/train.

If you were just running late, for no particular reason, I don’t think it’s acceptable. If people really want to create a good impression, surely they’d arrive early?

I ignited assume you were on public transport, since you were able to email them.

Waiting for another half hour over the allocated time, isn’t good either, but I would probably have waited and spoken about it during the interview. A third interview for a casual position seems rather like overkill too.

have they rescheduled ?

Unprofessional of them to be bad mouthing colleagues and the company like that, especially in front of members of the public. 5 minutes late with prior warning isn't all that bad, but being kept waiting for half an hour with no indication of when you'll be seen isn't good at all.

That, combined with your ageism, sounds like both sides will benefit from you leaving before interview.