Is It Okay to Leave an Interview After a Long Wait? Seeking Advice on Handling Delays

Seeking Advice on Interview Etiquette

Currently, I am looking for a change. Twice when I went for an interview, I had to wait for 1 hour. Nobody entertained me until after 1 hour. The reception people told me to wait. At the same time, I had taken half a day off from the office, so I had to rush back. I inquired with the reception and consultancy staff, informing them that I had been waiting for an hour. Subsequently, I left the place without the interview. I am an MBA graduate. We are taught to respect others' time, and I do value punctuality.

Is it wrong to walk out from an interview place? I believe that if a company's HR behaves in such a manner, it raises questions about the culture they uphold. I would appreciate your suggestions.

Regards,
Jayashree

What you did was wrong. It is one of the criteria to check the candidate's patience, that is, how much patience he/she has to tackle a worst situation.

You are appreciated for your justified opinion. But one thing you have forgotten, as you are an MBA, you have more patience and are willing to handle stress because the company's HR personnel want to know how much patience a candidate has. It's not for all companies, but some companies exhibit this type of behavior.

If you need to take a half-day off, simply contact the HR department and explain your situation. However, HR personnel always adhere to their company's criteria. Do not leave the venue without appearing for the interview because that interview could be the gateway to your bright future.

Best of luck!

Thanks and Regards,
Prasanta Panigrahi
Executive Assistant
New Delhi

It all depends on the circumstances; for example, do you want the job more than they want you, or vice versa? Once, my friend, who was unemployed, went for an interview and had to wait over 90 minutes for the HR Manager to turn up for the interview. He patiently waited, as his wife had asked him to go to the interview and also because he wanted a job badly. The Manager came and apologized for the unavoidable delay; he was tied up with an Industrial Relations problem first thing in the morning. Had he not stayed behind, the workers would have downed tools, and valuable production would have been lost. My friend got the job.

It is always advisable to apply for a whole day holiday to cater for eventualities like that. If you did not have to rush back, would you have waited?

Professionalism in Interview Processes

Leaving an interview place without attending the interview doesn't reflect professionalism. At the same time, not conducting the interview at the scheduled time is also very bad. If there are any unforeseen reasons due to which the interview gets delayed by the HR team, then the candidate can be informed accordingly.

But as per my experience (being a consultant), many HR professionals (not all) take it casually. They believe that they will get many candidates and are less bothered about them. HR is behaving like bureaucrats.

Many times, it happens that candidates also don't turn up on time.

Challenges in Scheduling Interviews

Preferably, one should take a whole day leave for an interview, but many times it's not practically possible due to various reasons, such as:
- The interview process doesn't get over in one day.
- When one is looking for a job, they have to attend many (5-6) interviews at different companies, hence one will not get so many leaves.

The time has come when both the candidate (employee) and the company (employer) need to respect each other's time and understand the time commitment.

Once, I had to wait for 3.5 hours, but the HR manager apologized beforehand and offered me tea. He informed me that he was busy in a meeting and would come in 2-3 hours. I arrived there at 03:00 PM, and the interview, which lasted for 10 minutes, started at 06:30 PM. Despite the long wait, I managed to secure the job and had a great learning experience in that company. Whenever I am aware that someone is waiting for me, I make it a priority to set aside all other work and attend to that person promptly. As someone in public service, it is crucial for us to prioritize customer satisfaction to serve the public effectively.

It is a valuable post. I would like to comment on this topic and share my views. Everyone's time is valuable, so we should respect it. When evaluating patience, an interviewer can conduct the first round shortly and then ask the candidate to wait for some time. This allows the interviewee to self-assess whether they could be shortlisted for the position in that company. After the first round, they will feel more confident.

Additionally, when meeting someone for the first time, creating a welcoming atmosphere can help the person feel attended to. There are various tools available to assess patience, so there is no need to make a candidate wait for an extended period.

Regards

We are supposed to value the time of others as we do for ourselves. Whatever the reason for the delay, candidates must be communicated with at the very first instance about the delay and the likelihood of the revised timing of the interview. Bureaucratic behavior is not acceptable, whoever the interviewer is, as it reflects the culture of the organization and their surroundings.

I have personally been through such an incident recently with the so-called one of the big tour & travel MNC called FCm Travel Solutions. Ms. Sugandha Arora, HR @ FCm, kept me waiting for 3 hours. When I left (as I was supposed to catch a train leaving Delhi at 3 pm, which was well communicated to the consultant a day before), she called me to question the reason for leaving. Though the issue could have been amicably settled if she would have said sorry, I was surprised to see her reaction and especially the tone of expression, which was just a notch below anger.

I was angry as I had already wasted 6 hours (3 hrs traveling + 3 hrs waiting) and would personally never like to join such an organization.

You have done right because this was excessive waiting for the candidate, and it really shows that the venue organization's HR practice for interviewing candidates is improper. Appropriate HR practices never keep a candidate waiting for one hour.

All the best for your upcoming interview.

I too faced a much worse situation last year. The shameful part was that it happened TWICE with the same company in a gap of a couple of months. I was scheduled (by some consultancy) for an interview with one of the market leaders in the Consumer Electronics segment for an HR position last year. I was called in the afternoon, and I had gone accordingly. Believe it or not, I was made to wait for 4.5 to 5 hours before being called in. After the interview, I was told I'd be informed later (usual process).

After about one and a half months, I was again called by the same consultancy, saying that this HR manager in this company wanted to meet me again. Therefore, I reached there as per my appointment given in the afternoon. A few of us were waiting for a long while in the reception area again. After a couple of hours, one of the guys got frustrated with the wait, as he had to report back to his office, as he had taken only half a day off. He got wild and left the place. The rest of us continued to patiently wait.

In between, around some 3-4 hours after I arrived, that HR manager came out for a minute, saw all of us, including me, nodded to me, and went back. Despite that, he took an awfully long time to start calling candidates later. I was the last guy called in, and that was around 7 in the evening, which was again after some 5-6 hours of wait by me. And worse, he acted naive and said he hadn't called me, and probably some miscommunication between him and the consultancy led to it. (If that was the case, he could have told me that a couple of hours earlier itself when he came out and met me). This was just too bad, and the height of unprofessionalism from him.

A harrowing experience, truly. I don't know how such people end up as HR managers when they don't even have basic human consideration for others.

We have had lots of different points of view here. Personally, I would not like to join a company where my time at the interview stage is not respected. Luckily, I conduct interviews and don't need to attend one. I have faced cases where candidates have been waiting for me to conduct interviews. Some delays are due to unavoidable circumstances. Some, I am afraid, were due to carelessness on my part. In all cases, my secretary checks with me, finds out how much time people need to wait, and informs them (natural courtesy, I think).

There have also been cases where people waited because we underestimated the amount of time I would take with each candidate. So you probably need to find out what the reason was, and you need to make a decision. Sometimes you may miss an opportunity. Sometimes you may have saved further waste of time.

I too always ensure that I do not make my candidates wait too long. Having undergone situations myself, and having "been on the other side," I know how it feels. The other person's time has to be valued and respected. Otherwise, we do not deserve to be HR managers if we cannot have that basic human consideration.

Exceptional cases, due to some other work priority, are understandable. But again, even that HAS to be communicated to the candidate, and the feasibility of the extent to which the candidate can wait, or probable rescheduling of the interview, may be considered. Just keeping the candidate waiting indefinitely, without any intimation, is NOT the way to go about.

Jayshree, what you did was right! The interviewers know your situation very well; that you are currently employed and appearing for an interview by taking some time off. I completely disagree with those who think you were being tested for your patience. There are many more ways to test your patience. What they did was humiliate you. Definitely, they are not professional (at least the HR team out there).

You should have left a note for HR explaining the circumstances and complaining about their bad treatment. At that moment, you were their guest, and they should know how to treat a visitor on their doorstep.

You really have tons of patience. Be a little more patient, and you will get your dream job  Good Luck!

Importance of Punctuality in HR Practices

There are many HR personnel associated with this particular website, so I would request all HR personnel to strictly adhere to the timing given for interviews. If the interview is delayed, please inform the candidate about the delay.

Sometimes, candidates may also arrive late for the interview. In such cases, if the candidate has not informed you earlier, you can penalize them by asking them to wait for half an hour, but not more than that. We should understand that despite being late, the candidate has made an effort to come for the interview, possibly due to a busy schedule in their current organization. Even if the candidate is a fresher, you should only allow half an hour of penalization.

I believe paying attention to these small details will help maintain a positive HR image in every organization.

Regards

What happened with you was really disappointing. But then, why can't you disclose the name of the company? Let other forum members know about the insensitivity of that company's managers. This is what the role of social media is. Have no worry about their brand image. If they do not care about their brand image, then why should you?

Thanks,

Dinesh V Divekar

The only reason I did not disclose the name was from the point of view of Business Ethics. Cite HR being a renowned HR forum, the concerned person too could well be on the forum, and I thought it may not be a good thing to indulge in.

Though, if the majority here feels so, and the forum etiquette too encourages/permits the same, I don't mind disclosing the organization's name.

The Importance of Patience During Interviews

Your interview starts from the reception itself, but you don't have patience, so you fail in the first round. If you have any time commitments, you need to inform HR, and they will consider it.

Regards,
Vijay