I really want this job but is this a red flag?

[sundayclean]

I'm looking for a new job and have been invited to attend an interview this Thursday at 2:30. Unfortunately I have a dentist appointment on Thursday at 2pm which has been booked for well over a month. I have an NHS dentist and they are very very strict with cancelling and rescheduling appointments. I cancelled once last year (first time in 7 yrs) due to an emergency and they said if it happened again then I would be taken off the register. It's not great but I only stay with them as I can't afford to go private.

Anyway, I spoke with the hiring manager at the beginning of last week and she contacted yesterday to arrange the interview. In all fairness I never mentioned my appointment when I initially spoke to her as it just slipped my mind but she also didn't mention what day the interviews would be on if I was successful getting to the next stage.

I've asked if she can accommodate another day/time to which she's said no. I really want this job, but she does seem a bit inflexible/awkward. Or am I the one being awkward? I don't really want to risk losing my dentist for a job that I might not even get and I think expecting someone to cancel a prior appointment with 3 days notice is a bit unreasonable. Would this put you off?

Blimey, getting struck off the dentist simply for trying to reschedule an appointment sounds a bit OTT. What if you’ve been run over by a bus or kidnapped by aliens?

I usually give a one week notice for interview slots.

For a 30 minute video interview honestly I’d expect the candidate to just take time out fo their job (eg a late lunch hour) to do it rather than a whole day off work, but that is perhaps the level and sector we work in.

Would your NHS dentist strike you off if you couldn’t attend your appointment due to an emergency? Do they need to know the reason?

To those who are asking about the dentist, The Op had already previously completely missed an appointment so is on a last chance.

I think you should contact them, say you were very sorry to pull out due to dental treatment appointment (stressing not just a routine appt) how interested you were in the post and that you would be interested to hear from them if the position does not get filled.

You never know!

But I would say this isn’t necessarily a red flag for the organisation as it can be very hard to get an interview panel together.

Thing is depending on what job you are going for they may not particularly care about having the best person ever for the job, they just want someone good enough so will pick out of the ones they have on the day they are interviewing

When I have done job interviews as an employer sometimes I put aside a day or 2 afternoons or similar and as long as I had enough good candidates for those times I wouldn't accommodate anyone at another time.
Sorry OP but interviewers are often very busy and if there are good candidates that can make the required slots there is no reason for them to offer you an alternative.

No mention of next interview, three days notice and no flexibility?!

Nah, I think you've done the right thing.

YOUR recruitment policies maybe. Other employers (all of them actually, in my personal experience) show way more flexibility because it is completely stupid to lose a potential good candidate for a reason so banal.

Calling others "naive" for expecting minimum of respect for people's time really shows how patronising and controlling you would be as an employer. It is a red flag.

It can be a nightmare with diaries to get an interview panel together in the first place. We have x3 on a panel.

You can also lose good candidates if you have a wait a few days to accommodate someone who can’t make it. If indeed the people on the panel can even find another slot.

So I do see why there might have been reluctance.

I would have tried special pleading with the dentist, at least in the first instance.

The entitlement of some people on this thread is astounding - no a prospective employer doesn't have to 'wait' for you to be available, and there's nothing wrong with them if they don't. Unless you have a very specialised skill set there'll be plenty of other good candidates to choose from. By the sounds of it, they probably had a lucky escape. Imagine being this entitled in the workplace!

The dental appointment has been arranged for a month. The Op has an infection in her tooth and needs a root canal.

I think I would be prioritising that over an employer who gives you a couple of days notice for an interview and no other option. Not everyone can get time off work at such short notice.

Yes, she is working. Perhaps read the thread?

The employee isn’t getting much chance to hold it against the employer if they won’t reschedule the interview!

The NHS for example set a side one day to interview candidates so if that doesn't suit, they won't accommodate.

that depends surely on how many good or better candidates you have? If one candidate who isn't a standout can't make the offered slot and you KNOW you will be turning candidates down then why waste your time and theirs?

from experience, this may not be the case, just that there are many more candidates as good as the OP than they have jobs to offer.

no, you said that they had already decided who would get the job which is different from having more good candidates than you have jobs to offer.

I don't care