When the Interview call doesn't happen

Still looking for work and I had an interview scheduled for noon EDT today. So I have notes, prepared some questions to ask, and even had time to do some knitting to handle the before interview jitters before noon strikes. 12pm comes and goes, no bit deal sometimes interviews are scheduled back to back and spill over. I double check the emails and my calendar, I have the dates and time correct. At 12:30pm I email my contact saying I understand that things can get hectic when preparing for the busy season and suggested some days and times that work for me to reschedule the interview.

It's a customer service job that's seasonal with the potential to become permanent. Great company that pays well and even if it's just seasonal it pays better than the usual seasonal retail jobs. I heard form another place that says I'm still in the running. They're moving slow because business unexpectedly doubled and they're trying to squeeze in interviews between customers.

How has everyone handled this situation? I have another interview at 2pm, so I won't worry about it much.

Edit: Interviewer's assistant rescheduled the appointment and the interviewer apologized for missing the original interview. Details on post #6

Sorry this is happening but if the interviews are going between customer calls, it can be hectic. Your calm response will stand you in good stead during the interview and how you are perceived. Wishing for you that the next scheduled call flows.

I think it's odd that someone scheduled an interview with you and it didn't happen. What kind of interview was it? Phone? Zoom? I hate to sound as if I'm insulting to your intelligence (no insult intended), but are you sure of the call-in details? I do interviews for a living and sometimes I find that people don't realize they have to dial in a certain way.

I would definitely circle back to the people who made the appointment with you and say "I'm sorry we didn't connect for the meeting we had scheduled for 12pm today. I waited for X minutes but no one called in. I would love to reschedule if possible." Something like that. I think that any decent HR department would cancel the appointment with you if they were no longer interested in you. It may have been an oversight or a mistake on their end.

It would depend on how they handle it. Emergencies happen. If they are apologetic and this is the only negative experience you have in the process I’d be ok with rescheduling and moving forward. If they don’t apologize or seem to care about the value of your time I’d be more inclined to shut down the whole thing. The above advice, of course, assumes that you don’t desperately need the job. If that’s the case then I’d be grateful if/when they reschedule.

Sure, I'd circle back in case it was a legitimate misunderstanding. I once had a large company flake on the first phone interview and apologize, then reschedule and flake on that phone interview and apologize, and I forget if it was to the 3rd or 4th "interview" they had scheduled, but I was in the final rounds of a job offer from another place by then and so flaked on them prepping for that actual job possibility instead of wasting time with an interview that would probably just be cancelled again. Ha. And that time they actually tried to call and left a message! I mean really. >8)

So nonsense happens. But so do honest mistakes.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by catherine

I think it's odd that someone scheduled an interview with you and it didn't happen. What kind of interview was it? Phone? Zoom? I hate to sound as if I'm insulting to your intelligence (no insult intended), but are you sure of the call-in details? I do interviews for a living and sometimes I find that people don't realize they have to dial in a certain way.

I would definitely circle back to the people who made the appointment with you and say "I'm sorry we didn't connect for the meeting we had scheduled for 12pm today. I waited for X minutes but no one called in. I would love to reschedule if possible." Something like that. I think that any decent HR department would cancel the appointment with you if they were no longer interested in you. It may have been an oversight or a mistake on their end.

---

It was a telephone interview, I double checked the emails and confirmed the interview was for Monday October 26th at 12pm EDT by telephone. I always make sure I have the day, month, day, time, and time zone when I am involved in a meeting because I have dealt with date or time zone confusion.

Update: A few minutes after I posted I received an email from Megan, the assistant. She apologized for Greg, the interviewer and COO of the company, not making the interview and said she would reschedule it as soon as possible. I was about to reply when she asked if it could be rescheduled for 3:30pm. I agreed to reschedule at 3:30pm. Greg called at 3:30pm and apologized for missing the original interview, a meeting involving a major project rollout went longer than intended. The interview went well, and he said they're looking to hire now so I'll probably get a callback Wednesday or Thursday.

Good!!!! Thanks for the update

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by hana

It was a telephone interview, I double checked the emails and confirmed the interview was for Monday October 26th at 12pm EDT by telephone. I always make sure I have the day, month, day, time, and time zone when I am involved in a meeting because I have dealt with date or time zone confusion.

Update: A few minutes after I posted I received an email from Megan, the assistant. She apologized for Greg, the interviewer and COO of the company, not making the interview and said she would reschedule it as soon as possible. I was about to reply when she asked if it could be rescheduled for 3:30pm. I agreed to reschedule at 3:30pm. Greg called at 3:30pm and apologized for missing the original interview, a meeting involving a major project rollout went longer than intended. The interview went well, and he said they're looking to hire now so I'll probably get a callback Wednesday or Thursday.

---

Awesome! That's exactly the response I had hoped you would get. I would totally let them slide for this and happily take the job if it was offered.

Good update!

"To err is human."

Greg and Company may appreciate this aspect of life, and so they may be satisfying to work for.

Wishing you success, hana!

Glad it all worked out and good luck!

Fingers crossed!