Reply to: Turning up late for interview - Aargghh !

[Old Greg]

Don't be an a****

Trains between London and the rest of the South East are often late.

As long as you don't take the train that will get you there just on time and add in an extra half an hour for your journey then if the train is later than that there isn't much you can do.

I allow a hell of a lot more time than that. A contract that is renewed several times can easily be worth 100 to 200 k.

[SueEllen]

so everyone was late for work that was on that same train, or did they perhaps get an earlier train ??

Don't be an a****

Trains between London and the rest of the South East are often late.

As long as you don't take the train that will get you there just on time and add in an extra half an hour for your journey then if the train is later than that there isn't much you can do.

[tarbera]

ok

Didn't fancy jumping off train when it was muleing along between Reading and London. By the time I got to Paddington tube would have been just the same....

so everyone was late for work that was on that same train, or did they perhaps get an earlier train ??

[psychocandy]

I made it from 50 miles outside Glasgow to Canary Wharf to be ready TO interview someone at 10am, Chaps rolls in 30mins late, apologies and said he at transport issues from Mudchute. (a 15 min walk away). - Anyone who is late never gets offered a contract ever is typically they are full of duff excuses (my cat ate my oyster card, the train i got went the wrong way, how did 3000 people in this building manage to get here on time and im late

Question for psychocandy - Why did you not jump in a cab.

Didn't fancy jumping off train when it was muleing along between Reading and London. By the time I got to Paddington tube would have been just the same....

[tarbera]

A few weeks ago

First time I ever did this in my life yesterday. Let down badly by public transport.

Unfortunately, other than planning to arrive hours before you need to its difficult to foresee these things. Luckily, did manage to get message through to client.

Those of you responsible for hiring etc - showstopper for you if someone does this or understanding that it happens?

I made it from 50 miles outside Glasgow to Canary Wharf to be ready TO interview someone at 10am, Chaps rolls in 30mins late, apologies and said he at transport issues from Mudchute. (a 15 min walk away). - Anyone who is late never gets offered a contract ever is typically they are full of duff excuses (my cat ate my oyster card, the train i got went the wrong way, how did 3000 people in this building manage to get here on time and im late

Question for psychocandy - Why did you not jump in a cab.

[BrilloPad]

At my last job I recommended a friend to work at their Geneva office. HR in LOndon organized it and got the time zone wrong so sent him there 2 hours early.

For some odd reason he hung around they threw the interview. I guess its a Swiss thing.

[quackhandle]

Tis the season, I was 10 mins late for interview today but I'm blaming the Christmas traffic.

Crap interview anyway, felt like client wanted a scape goat rather than an "expert" but doubt I'll get it any way, felt a bit flat, poor vibes.

Onwards and upwards.

qh

[Dactylion]

Then again, I did think, perhaps working for a client who didn't accept that tulip like this happens might be an indicator of what they're like to work for anyway....

They could of course take the view that someone not able to get his arse in gear enough to get to an interview on time might be an indicator of their general attitude and competence......

Just saying like.

But tulip does happen - so best of luck!

[VectraMan]

They also thought I made up virtual inheritance

It was you! Bastard!

The only times I've been slightly late is when I've arrived an hour early and then gone for a walk/drive and got lost somewhere. Usually I'm Mr. ridiculously early for these things.

I remember as an interviewer somebody turning up an hour and a half late, and just explaining it with a shrug and "it was further away than I thought". He didn't get the job. If you're the one stand out candidate, they're probably going to forgive anything like this, but if you're just one of the 10 possibles then turning up late won't do you any favours.

[BlasterBates]

It's no problem. Happened to me, flight was cancelled so they booked another one for me, after I left the office they booked a new flight and the agent notified me by e-mail, which I never read because I didn't have access. Didn't get invited back after that

The bank was called Lehman Brothers

[SteelyDan]

Central london it was.

So you got greedy on your 3 possible options, and then you were late?

[hyperD]

Turned up 4 hours late for my current role. Well, it was SWT and the storm in October. They were very nice about it. I lost half a day's invoicing!

[psychocandy]

Depends where and when the interview is. If its central London and first thing in the morning, then anyone working there expects trouble with public transport to cause late starts now and again. If its middle of the afternoon somewhere in the sticks where every other person on site gets there by car it will probably be frowned upon.

Central london it was.

[CoolCat]

Depends where and when the interview is. If its central London and first thing in the morning, then anyone working there expects trouble with public transport to cause late starts now and again. If its middle of the afternoon somewhere in the sticks where every other person on site gets there by car it will probably be frowned upon.

[MyUserName]

It is not a deal breaker if there is a valid reason. I have been late for an interview once when I had two delayed trains and one completely cancelled. I got there about 5 minutes late.

However, the interviewers both seemed more interested in showing off their MFC knowledge rather than interviewing me and when I politely explained that the class they were asking me about did not exist and they might mean another one (I think it was CFrame and CFrameWnd but I cannot quite remember, it was something like that) they seemed pretty annoyed. They also thought I made up virtual inheritance and whilst I was promised a white board and a projector screen, they neglected to mention that these were setup so only one could be used which shafted my presentation. It might have been that they were both only a year or so older than me but I had worked for a year in industry as a C++ programmer as part of my sandwich course so knew a lot more than the average graduate about it so they were a bit put out that my knowledge was comparable to theirs.

I do not think being late made a difference, I think they were arrogant tossers regardless of what time I got there.