Interview No-Shows: How Do You Handle Candidates Who Confirm but Don't Appear?

Hi Friends, we schedule candidates for Non-IT and IT companies. Many of them confirm the previous day, but on the day of the interview, they don't turn up. Please let me know how to solve this issue.

Waiting for your replies.

Regards,
Nirupama

I am also facing the same issue with candidates. Candidates often come up with typical reasons such as:

1. I had many interviews on the same day.
2. I received an offer from XYZ on the same day, etc.

Can anyone help me with this issue?

Regards,
Shravan Kumar
HR Executive
Trissn IT Solutions.

First of all, I think that the day should be chosen properly. Choose a holiday or a day when people are usually off work. This may increase the number of candidates appearing for the interview.

Secondly, you may need to provide more information about the interview, such as the best package for freshers or stating that salary is not an issue for deserving candidates, etc.

Finally (I'm sorry to say this), if people are still not attending, then it could be that they are not interested in the company profile, the way of working, or some other negative aspect.

I apologize, but this is my personal view.

Thank you

All recruiters in the world face the same problem! So do I, but whenever I line up candidates for any particular post, I line up the least number of candidates, all of whom should be needy ones (which is not possible to determine over the phone). Again, it depends upon your skill and experience. Make your speech flexible so that the candidates feel comfortable while talking to you. As you know, HR/recruiters are the face of the company.

Candidates not turning up for interviews is a very common problem faced by all firms.

Good Practices for Interview Scheduling

- Don’t ever force a candidate to attend the interview to meet your target/schedule. That will result in a high number of failures because meeting your requirements is not the candidate’s job.

- Sense the candidate’s tone to determine if they are looking for a change. Otherwise, no matter the effort you put in, he/she will not show interest in attending an interview.

- Compare the organization profile of the candidate with your company. Unless there is a significant higher-level difference, the candidate will never consider attending an interview in a smaller company.

- If you feel the candidate has a genuine reason for not attending an interview, accept it because everybody has their own work priorities.

Handling Non-Selected Candidates

- A common mistake made by any recruitment team is treating candidates who have not cleared the interview:
* Professionally tell them a clear reason for their failure and why they were not selected. This will help them correct their mistakes.
* They will speak well of you outside, saying good things about your team.
* Unless you treat the non-selected candidates professionally, they may make negative comments within their circle about your company being fake, your process being stupid, or conducting interviews just for namesake.
* Build rapport even with non-selected candidates carefully.

- Always get the proper requirements, ask relevant questions to the candidate, and build confidence that they are capable of meeting the requirements. Schedule a telephonic interview, which will reduce disappointment, save time, money, and energy.

Thank you.

Nowadays, there is a shortage of skilled individuals. Everybody tends to prefer experienced candidates. Moreover, people are reluctant to switch jobs frequently for a small increase in salary. Personal issues also play a vital role in this scenario. Initially, candidates may agree to attend an interview, but when it comes to the last minute, they often cancel.

Ensuring Candidate Attendance

To ensure candidates' attendance, please consider providing conveyance and covering their stay charges. This would make it more convenient for them to come for an interview.

Regards,
D. Gurumurthy
HR & IR Consultant

First of all, I would like to point out that if candidates do not show up when an interview is scheduled, then they are not worth it. Change your types of interviews - turn to recruiting agencies that can send potential employees, such as campus recruiting. However, at the same time, it depends on the job itself, how it is being portrayed, and the financial gain of the candidates. Make your company attractive, real, honest, and ethical. You need to market the goods and services of the company. Hope this is okay.

Attracting the Right Candidates

The idea of paying conveyance/stay charges, though attractive enough to lure candidates, does not attract those truly interested in the organization but only those interested in TA/DA. It is time for introspection as to why candidates are not attracted, i.e., the facilities around the location, the company's image vis-a-vis competitors, and employee facilities besides the pay package.

You may seek help from your employees by offering incentives for referring their friends/relatives for the positions available.

Consider enhancing the CTC or adjusting the expected level of candidates (average or lower).

Regards.

I have seen a lot of suggestions coming in from various intellectuals. However, the concern is genuine. Let us not blame recruiters at our workplace, as these same recruiters do a much better job when they schedule candidates for middle management roles or senior management roles. Younger aspirants do not respect the time and money invested by recruitment firms and HR managers of the companies. They lack the courage to be truthful. This has become a significant problem, and some serious steps are required to address it.

Suggestion for Addressing No-Show Candidates

A suggestion would be to encourage job websites to block the CVs of those candidates for whom they receive more than a specified number of complaints about not showing up for an interview. I need some more suggestions to help them understand the importance of the significant investments made in the recruitment process.

I completely agree with Oyster's comments. No-shows have become a major concern and drain on energy and resources. The thread starter is a recruitment consultant, making the task more challenging, cumbersome, and in the end, disappointing, emotionally draining the person on big volume drive days.

HR colleagues have presented good suggestions, but they seem too good to be true. Making freshers and mid-career candidates turn up for interviews is like a gamble. Nevertheless, these suggestions are hit and miss, so there's no harm in trying; we don't have many options either.

My 2 Cents in Such Situations:

1) Get a basic Client HR interview done telephonically. Involve the candidate in the interview process by assuring selection in preliminary rounds over the phone itself.

2) Reach out to the candidate rather than expecting them to come to you. Grab your mobile and get your feet on the street. Work from a campus Katta, CCD, Barista, or MG Road. Contact your candidate on the move. Meet people on the street, surprise them with your charm and offer.

Sounds wacky? Well, that is what India is! Think out of the box!

I got tired and irritated with no-shows, so I challenged conventional sourcing methods. I struck a friendly rapport with the HR of the client, convinced her to interview my candidates over the phone. I took my cell phone and hit the malls in the city. I approached these young, enthusiastic individuals and convinced them for an interview (Abhi-ke-Abhi). I could assess their communication skills and other non-verbal aspects according to my client's requirements and coordinated a telephonic call with Client HR. Once these candidates were in the loop of interviews, they would turn up at the client or recruitment office for further rounds. If on some days I couldn't get hold of Client HR, I would simply call my colleague and get a mock interview done to get these average Joes in the loop.

As I gained success in better turnout and conversion ratios, I made more friends, more referrals, and more contacts. When a recruiter strikes a friendly rapport, candidates are honest about no-shows and offer acceptance. Many times, I have driven my candidates to the client location for interviews. Well, it's all about how passionate we are to meet our goals.

I have been grilled, cooked, toasted, and fried in ITes (BPO) recruitment! Duhh! It's the most challenging time of my career chart!

Regards

I second Sethu's comments. Also, please make sure you probe candidates by asking detailed questions about their interview preparation. You should also check with them how they have planned to attend the interview (such as taking a leave from the current company or a half day, etc.). If you track their general approach to the position right from the time of your initial discussions and their earlier track record of attending interviews, that can also help.

Furthermore, explaining to the candidates the importance of keeping their commitments and the impact if they back out can help them realize the need to be more responsible in their approach.

Hi Friends, thanks a lot for your valuable words. I agree with Oyster's comments; at least other people will be careful and think twice about whether to schedule those candidates or not. It's a good idea.

Regards, Nirupama

Today, a candidate will prefer to have a platter of offers to select the best one, but not necessarily in the order of compensation. They want to have an overview of all the pros and cons of the offers before making a decision to join one. Our experiences have taught us that every candidate expects the recruiter to share the relevant job description, and the future employer should ideally be among their top choices to work for. As a result, we often encounter last-minute dropouts of candidates from interviews or from joining our client.

Strategies for Candidate Commitment

There is no magic formula to ensure that a selected candidate will join the new company. The only option we have found is to have a backup candidate in place. Additionally, to ensure that a candidate attends an interview, it is crucial to have a sufficient number of candidates lined up for the said interview. However, this also relies on the validation process, where we must understand the candidate's purpose for applying to the position.

Please feel free to share your valuable thoughts to make this a learning experience for all of us in this forum.

Regards,
Sanjay

The Universal Problem of No-Shows

The problem is universal, very common, and quite frustrating when someone who committed yesterday does not show up today! There are multiple reasons for this, and very few workable suggestions. I deliberately cite one example here that may not sound good to our fellow colleagues. In posting here on CiteHR, very few learned personalities address us and the whole community by name, write "Hi" or "Hello," wish us well, and at the end of the post, they also close with "Regards," "Thanks," etc. This situation occurs where, barring a few, most people are not focused, have a low level of job commitment, or there could be other subtle reasons. However, it becomes routine.

The Class That Doesn't Need a Job

Likewise, there is another group who do not need a job, express gratitude in return for your attempts to reach them, and make them feel that there is a suitable position, and they are invited for a meeting! This group is also of a significant size.

HR Perspective on Candidate Selection

From our HR perspective, we always select good and well-cultured individuals. In cases where someone has not exhibited courtesy, it is an opportunity before employment, and the team is right to declare them unfit.

Regards,
RDS Yadav
Director, Future Institute of Engineering and Management Technology
Labour Law Adviser
[Email Removed For Privacy Reasons]