Between invitation call and interview – Communicate, communicate, communicate
One thing that recruiters are continually asked is, what makes a good candidate. The answer to this would seem simple, one that has good experience, good qualifications and presents well. Whilst this is all true, there is also some other influencing factors that a candidate might not think about. It’s that time between having a phone interview and attending the interview that people sometimes forget about.
Most people don’t want their time wasted whether you are the recruiter doing the interviews or you are the candidate applying for the jobs and awaiting a response. Therefore, in order to avoid wasting time once you have the interview booked, it’s important to be aware of time management and be prepared. It is important to consider the finer details that will leave a great impression and may put you ahead of other candidates.
Once your interview is booked, ensure you confirm the time, date and location of the interview. If not already done, ask the recruiter to send you a confirmation email with all of the required details. If the recruiter has asked you to bring any documentation with you or asked you to complete any documentation, ensure this is also listed in the email. It will help you prepare for the interview and assist with double checking that you have everything prior to attending the interview.
Once you have received the interview confirmation email and list of documentation required, get prepared. Print out the list and start compiling the documentation that is required. If for example, you are working in childcare, it would be your current Working with Children Check card, your First Aid certificate and your updated police check or if you were working in hospitality it might be your responsible service of alcohol (RSA) and your police check. Whatever the documentation is, have it prepared. If you need to complete a document ensure it is completed. Whatever is on the list, have it, get it and do it and then double check again.
Once you have all documents prepared and your interview is just a night’s sleep away, you might face an unavoidable situation that you must take care of. Your son might come home from school, is sick and needs your care the next day. You might be sick yourself or a water pipe in your house broke and flooded the entire ground floor which needs your attention. Hence you need to cancel the interview. Of course all of those are valid reasons and most recruiters have been there and will understand, as long as you do the right thing by calling and informing them. Don’t cancel the interview due to less urgent reasons such as ‘I have another appointment’ without having any not-possible-to-delay-or-change appointment. Not only does this show poor time management skills but it also looks as if you don’t give the interview your priority, a situation you would want to avoid at all costs.
To sum up, regardless of the reason, if you can’t go to an interview call and let them now well in advance. If your reason is valid you will get another chance, if it is not, you might want to reconsider your commitment to the position and the interview anyway.
Besides not being able to come to the interview at all, it might be that you are running late to the interview. You researched the way, the parking situation, you left early enough to take into account any eventual delays but still this accident takes longer than even your most generous calculation. Sometimes these things happen and you are going to be late. Again, the important thing is that you communicate by calling ahead. This will show the recruiter that you value your interview and are considerate of their time. Even if being late means that they won’t be able to see you today due to other commitments you show awareness for their situation, an understanding of business schedules and you give them the chance to either change their schedule or rebook your interview.
Lastly but most importantly don’t be a no show. In case you have decided that you are not interested in the position or you have been offered another position it is not a drama, but it is very important that you call the recruiter or at very least send an email to advise that you will not be attending the interview and that you are not interested in rescheduling. By calling or emailing the recruiter to inform them of your situation, you are leaving a better impression than by ‘no showing’. If you ‘no show’ the recruiter will see that you don’t value them, the company and their time and you will leave a bad impression on them. The other consideration is that you never know if you will need to reapply for a job with them in the future in case the other job doesn’t work out or it was only short term. Whatever you do, call or email and inform the recruiter that you are not coming this way; they may still reconsider your application if you need them to.
So in short remember that every element of applying for a job is just as important as the next and that every recruiter will factor in all communication with you not just the phone interview or face to face interview. Start with a good impression and end with a good impression, this way you may be the best candidate for the job.
The Recruitment Team