To not attend a job interview with less than 24 hours notice?

[himyf]

I applied for a job in a completely different part of the country. It would be a big move for us but we’re flexible about where we live and the job was interesting so it was worth an application.

Today I got an email at 4pm asking me to attend an in-person interview at the location tomorrow at 12pm. The email said it would take 20minutes.

I emailed them straight back (no contact number given to phone them) and asked if due to the short notice I could attend on a different day this week or have the interview virtually, and they replied at 5.40pm with the exact same email as the first time - no acknowledgment that I had asked a question (strange).

AIBU to not attend? No interview dates were provided on the application/advert - if they had been I would have made sure I could travel on these dates. But at such short notice I simply can’t arrange to be half way across the country for a 20minute interview (which will clearly be a first round one anyway). I think not acknowledging my question about accommodating a different interview method or date and just resending the first email is their way of saying the interview can’t be moved, which is fair enough, but it’s very frustrating to be given such little notice!!!!

Don't go and now just cross them off your list. If they are this ignorant before they have even seen you just imagine how awful they would be as employers.

@himyf

its clear how they treat people.
tell them to GFTS.

I can imagine as an employer that I might have a single day set aside for interviews when I can assemble all the relevant people in the same place for the interview panel.

If I have 10 interview slots on the day then I invite the top 10 candidates from the ranked cvs (and keep working down the list if some can't make it).

If one of my booked interviewees drops out the day before the interview then yes I will send an invitation to Candidate #11, despite the short notice, because the worst that can happen is that they'll say no, they can't make it. I'm not going to not invite them because they're a long way away: that's their decision to deal with, not mine.

But my invitation would be apologetic for the short notice, and if they asked a follow up question then I would explain the situation politely.

@himyf I'm curious, did they respond?

Op, I think they sound quite rude actually not to acknowledge your reasonable request. It would be a red flag they may not be accommodating and not very nice to work for.

Did they ever reply? Sounds like a lucky escape if they didn't. If they don't listen to you at the point they want to impress you/hire you, they probably won't listen to you when they employ you.