Does the interview process begin before you’re even there?

Whilst spending an afternoon to’ing and fro’ing between two parties to book in a first stage interview, I had a little think about the implications of this part of the process, and whether a bumpy ride at this stage can foreshadow how the process plays out later on.

The conversation in question went a little like this:

“9am on the 15^th!”

“9am on the 16^th!”

“How about 10am on the 16^th?”

“No, I have a meeting then. OK scrap that, next week? When are they free?”

“They’re free Monday and Tuesday.”

“How about Monday at 5pm?”

“Oh they can’t make Monday now…”

…And so on. It was a bit like a game of schedule tennis.

This got me asking - does the interview process begin before you’re even there? Is what you do at this stage important?

Interview etiquette would dictate that the interviewee, the jobseeker,  should do what they can to accommodate a meeting of minds. That is to say, they are the ones on the back foot when it comes to ‘moving things around’ or cancelling prior engagements. If a company wants to see you on Friday afternoon but that would interfere with your timely commute back home for the weekend, as inconvenient as it is, you go and meet them and take a later train.

It is, after all, within your interests to get in front of them as soon as possible – protracting the process allows the momentum to trickle away and allows other candidates to get into the frame. It is also beneficial for your candidature to be accommodating and flexible.  Understand your interviewer is a busy person and accept there may only half an hour a week when they can take time to interview.

After all, they are only pushed for time because they are down a pair of hands in their team - and that is where you come in! If you can accept this fact and do what you can to make the magic happen sooner rather than later, then it really will be to your benefit.

Similarly, gracefully accepting last minute cancellations will win you brownie points - you will be perceived as flexible and understanding, whereas making a stand against the fact you’ve had to book half a day off work for nothing other than a route-to-work trial run – will potentially stick in your would-be employers throat.

I’m not saying that things should be this one-sided, but they often are. That is not to say that within the UX industry things are as black and white as I’ve made out. Our clients are often flexible when it comes to providing meeting times and understanding candidates issues with scheduling and ‘flying under the radar’, however I have noticed through working within the wider recruitment industry that it’s often a case of “now or never”.

My advice would be – even though that meeting may be less than convenient now – think of the longer term benefit involved in taking that step towards a new career!

 

Let me know what you think.