Can someone who is late for an interview still get an offer?

Job seekers make the same mistakes all the time, no matter how good they are, someone will always be late for an interview.

Today I saw an experience about a post-90s girl who was late for an interview. The girl was only three minutes late for the interview and was told she needed to wait in the conference room. After waiting for 45 minutes, I really lost my patience, so I left a note and walked away.The content of the note probably means: Your boss must be very busy, I apologize for wasting his time, but my time is also precious.

I have to feel that the workplace performance of modern young people is very rigid and hard-core. Thinking of my interview experience back then, I was also closed for being 5 minutes late, but I gave up and waited in the conference room for two hours.

In the end, perhaps it was my perseverance that moved HR and re-arranged an interview opportunity for me, and thus gained a rare work experience.

I believe that many people in the workplace can understand the unexpected situation of being late for an interview, and even ridicule the last sentence: “Justice can be late, why can’t I be late”?

However, some people think that such a big event as a job interview is no child’s play. Being late shows that you don’t pay attention to opportunities at all, have a poor sense of time, and have an irresponsible and lazy attitude towards life, which is difficult to achieve.

So, if you are really late for an interview due to objective factors, can you still have a chance to get an offer?

1. Being late for an interview, what did you lose first?

Being late for an interview may cause HR to misunderstand you as follows:

1. Low thirst for jobs

Just like the girl who was three minutes late, her behavior conveyed that she did not have a strong demand for the job position, did not have eager expectations for the job, and looked for a job with a casual attitude.

Just imagine, if you are extremely eager to get this job opportunity, you will definitely do your homework and prepare well in advance, for fear of unexpected situations on the way, and leave enough advance in time.

When the Alibaba Group started to take shape, Jack Ma was personally responsible for the recruitment. A candidate arrived at the scene one hour beyond the agreed time. Although he performed very well, Jack Ma still rejected the candidate.

The assistant was very puzzled. Ma Yun said: If he attaches great importance to this interview, he should take all kinds of situations into consideration and go out early to avoid accidents. How can I trust him in the future when I can be late for such an important thing? If he doesn’t value this opportunity, then I have no reason to hire him.

It can be seen that if you are late for an interview, first of all, you will be sentenced to “death penalty” in terms of your job-hunting attitude.

2. Self-expression of disrespect for other people’s time

If after the appointed time, the job seeker not only did not have any advance telephone communication, but even entered the interview state “naturally” when he arrived at the interview site, as if being late did not happen, then HR or the interviewer would be very surprised. .

No matter how long they waited, the interviewer did not have a guilt-free attitude or a gesture of apology, which inevitably caused a bad impression of “extreme self and disrespect for other people’s time”.

At this time, it is no longer a matter of being late, but a problem of “being late is not a serious matter, lacking the character and literacy of self-examination”.

When Xiaoyuan applied for a media company, she was 20 minutes late because she remembered the wrong time. When the interviewer asked him “why are you late”, he explained, “Shanghai traffic is so congested”.

When the interviewer continued to ask, “Why don’t you leave early if you know the traffic jam?”, Xiaoyuan said, “I live far away and I’m not very familiar with Shanghai, so I’m late, and I’m not too late.”

The interviewer shook his head regretfully and said, “I’m really sorry, the interview is over. You made a lot of excuses for being late and didn’t apologize. We are not very satisfied with you.”

The workplace is more about teamwork. People who have the spirit of contract and don’t know how to respect other people’s feelings, time and labor results are bound to become the first group of people eliminated by the interviewer.

2. After being late for the interview, is there really no chance?

In fact, for the interviewee to be late, it must be a bad impression, but since it has become an irreversible fact, how to refresh the bad first impression and turn the tide depends on whether you can deal with it decently and calmly.

1. Notify HR in advance and explain the situation

In the case of predicting that you will not be able to arrive at the interview site in time, you must communicate effectively with HR in advance, explain the reason for being late, try to give some objective reasons, and avoid getting up late because of the already reduced points. Subjective reasons like “forgetting the interview time” make things worse.

Another thing to note is to try to provide a precise predictable time frame.

For example, you can say, “Sorry, I’m taking your time because of me, I’ll be there in about 15-20 minutes.”

In this way, it is convenient for HR and the interviewer to arrange other matters, or to prioritize other interviewers for interviews, so as to reduce the time cost of delaying you as much as possible.

2. Stabilize your mind and control your emotions

Many interviewers, before meeting the interviewer, just rely on the guidance of interview books, presupposing that they will inevitably fail, resulting in a premature breakdown of their mentality.

In fact, uncontrollable traffic problems in first- and second-tier cities are generally understood. You should not exaggerate the impact of this in your heart.

Since you have lost points in the concept of time, reflect your maturity and strengths in your attitude and handling. The interview also calculates the comprehensive score after the scores are superimposed, so don’t over-calculate the entanglement and lose the big because of the small, affecting the overall performance and performance.

A senior HR who has worked in Huawei for more than ten years suggested that when facing the interviewer, pay attention to keep your appearance neat and tidy, and behave in a generous and decent manner. An interviewee with disheveled hair, panting, and a flustered face will give people a visual impact and will leave a reckless and unstable workplace impression.

Since you are late, it is recommended to go to the bathroom to clean up your image, hair and makeup before attending the interview. Take a few deep breaths to calm your mind and mobilize your emotions. These golden 3 minutes can not only relieve anxiety, warm up for entering the role of the interviewer in advance, but also do a good job of psychological construction before the interview.

3. Explanations are superfluous, everything lets strength speak

Before entering the interview, I believe that many people will be confused whether to say the reason for being late, and how to say the reason is more reasonable.

In fact, all these worries are superfluous. For the HR and interviewers who have read countless people, your lateness is a fact, and any new and creative explanations are pale.

Since they gave you the opportunity to continue the interview, it shows that what they really care about is your strength and ability, so show it without reservation. Don’t give the impression of being long-winded and dishonest by explaining too many reasons for being late.

Remember, what they’re really looking at is your ability to do the job and your attitude towards things.

Of course, no matter how perfect the solution is, it can’t compare to not being late, and no matter how small a flaw is, it will still affect the flawlessness.

Set aside plenty of time, plan a reasonable travel route, eliminate various potential risks, and make the most adequate preparation for the interview.