Lisa at HR Thoughts posted a question from someone about the consequences of arriving late at an interview.

It is a cautionary tale about checking the details fully ahead of which might just be one of the most important meetings in your career.

But things go wrong - that’s life  - and it’s often the way you handle them that leaves the lasting impression.

Let me tell you about  a young lady  I was due to interview some time back. Her application form and CV were great and had sailed through the filter process landing on my desk to arrange the first interview. I called her, she sounded really excited and we decided on a 9.30 am appointment.

At 9.10am on the day of the interview the phone rang and I heard the frantic candidate on the other line telling me how the train she was on had been held up about 5 minutes from the station and  the information from the rail company was that they did not know why or how long they would be stuck ( pretty typical customer service I would say). She could not do anything about it.

Realising that this situation was indeed out of her hands I said that she should just get to me as soon as she could. Around 10am I had a call to say that she had arrived in reception. It was clear that she had run all the way from the station - she was a bit windswept and out of breath. She had made a real effort to dress smartly right down to the very high shoes and I immediately wondered how she had managed to run without doing herself an injury.

In the meeting room she was  near to tears. To put this into context this job would get her onto the first rung of the ladder for professional qualification too.  I poured her a glass of water, chatted about something neutral ( probably the weather …how very British) and within 5 minutes she was composed and ready to go.

She sailed through the interview. Her ability to overcome the trauma of getting there so quickly really impressed me. I was right too because that was a strength she always got positive feedback on.

 Another similar story springs to mind. We were looking for an administrative assistant for our team. Their duties would be wide and varied including organising events. We had a date set for the interview and that morning she called to say that she was very sorry but she would not be able to come along that day. She would understand if we could not rearrange it but she had been working with a colleague on organising a seminar that very day and the colleague had phoned to say that she was sick and would not be able to make it. She had chosen then to  potentially forego her chance to get a new job so as not to let her colleague and her current employer down.

We rearranged the interview to the next day. I asked her to tell us about the event. Her answers went some considerable way to telling us what kind of person she was and how she would fit on the team. She got the job.