A job applicant checks her phone in a parking garage. Models pictured are not representative.
A woman was left worried by a recent job interview experience she had, where the recruiter had been very overeager in her communication. She parked her car at the site twenty minutes before her interview slot, planning to go through her interview preparation before the time came.
Between then and arriving at the office five minutes before her interview, the recruiter called her multiple times to pressure her into getting there early. Her interviewer wasn't even there when she arrived, but her friend told her that she should have been more conscious about arriving earlier to make a good impression.
A female recruiter wearing glasses makes a call.
Are you supposed to arrive 20 minutes early to interviews?
I had an interview today set for 6:00. I arrived in the parking garage at 5:40. Before I could even park my car the recruiter was calling me asking me if I had any problems finding the garage and I said no, she said great let me know if you need help making it up I said ok and we hung up.
So when I arrive places I like to get there early so I can spend a few minutes in my car getting situated before I go in. I planned to get there early so I can put my heels on and review my answers one more time. A few minutes go by and she calls again and asks me if I am having problems making it up there. By this time I am leaving my car and walking toward the entrance of the building. Once I let her know I was coming up she says okay let me know if you have any problems. While I'm on the phone with her another recruiter calls me and leaves a voicemail saying the interviewer is "literally" waiting on me. By now the time is 5:51 and I am heading to the elevators. I make it up there by 5:55. I am talking to the recruiter and some of the other team members for a few minutes before the manager comes in and takes me to her office to interview.
A job applicant looks to the side as she holds her phone in a parking garage. Still frame for contextual reference only.
Once I leave I told my friend how they were blowing up my phone and he tells me it's my fault and I should have been up there 20 minutes before my interview started? Is that true? I was under the impression that the interviewer would be interviewing someone else at that time so I didn't want to come up too early. Now I am worried I wont get the job because of this.
Close-up of an interviewer clasping her hands above a clipboard with a laptop beside her.
No this is toxic. Being early is cool a bonus but if they're hounding you like this it smells desperate.
If you go in too early it looks bad too. I always show up 5-10 minutes early to show I’m on time, but not early enough that it comes off as I don’t value their time. You did the right thing though!
I mean, if it’s an interview for a job I want, why on earth would I not show up well in advance? There is only a potential upside to it, with absolutely no downside. Investing 20 minutes extra of my life to potentially get an advantage seems like a no brainer
Sounds like the interview started at 5:40 but they told you 6:00. I personally would have been in place a little sooner than 5:55 but in my former life as a manager I’ve had some people roll in 30 minutes early and then I felt rushed. 10-15 minutes early is the sweet spot for me.
If you do get the job I’d keep looking because a month in you’re very likely to be running into other impossible goal post moving situations and communication follies.
As a hiring manager, I can tell you if you were to show up to one of my interviews 20 minutes early, you would be sitting in the waiting room for 19 minutes.
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