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As a hiring manager, I don't make candidates sit and wait on me because that is extremely rude. If I am in a situation where I am going to be delayed I will send out someone to greet the candidate and let them know that I am going to be delayed and then arrange either for someone else to talk with the candidate first or delegate what I am doing.
There are very few things that happen where you absolutely can't break away to interview the candidate on a previously agreed upon time and day.
I once went to an interview some years ago with a major manufacturer for the railroad industry and had traveled out of state (7 hour drive) to do so. I arrived about 5 minutes early so signed in and let the receptionist know who I was and who I was interviewing with. She disappeared for a few moments and came back to let me know that the person would be right with me. I waited 45 minutes and politely approached her again. The receptionist again checked and said that the person I would be interviewing with was just wrapping up and would be with me in 10 minutes. Well I waited another 30 minutes and no interview. Finally after a total of 3 hours I got up and asked her if she would check with the hiring manager and ask him if he would be available at all that day. She came back and said that she couldn't get a hold of him. I politely thanked her and took off back home.
When they called back to re-schedule the interview, I declined.
If they were that unprofessional about the interview, who knows how bad they would have been to work for?!
Unless some explanation was forthcoming, I'd walk after about 20 minutes if I was treated that way. I don't need a job so badly that I'd allow myself to be treated like crap.
I wouldn't. I'd try to ace the interview, make it last as long as possible, and announce at the end, "Sorry I am no longer interested".
Waste THEIR time.
Last edited by BobNJ1960; 02-25-2019 at 10:12 PM..
Long ago, interviewer was so arrogant, I had no plans, so I asked well over 30 minutes of questions, left him thinking I was open to an offer, and sent a "Thanks, but no thanks" next morning.
When you waste someone's time who wasted yours (assuming they were not apologetic), you teach them a wonderful life lesson.
I would ask at the 20min mark, if I am still sitting there at the 30-40ishmin mark (assuming there is not a good excuse for the interview being late), I would leave.
Many job seekers don't understand that YOU are supposed to be "interviewing" the employer as well. And that "interview" starts from the very beginning of your contact with them, even as the interview is being set up. You should be looking for red flags all through the process, from the job listing, to your first contact with the hiring manager, to your waiting room experience, etc.
What the previous poster said was absolutely correct. This is how you would have been treated on the job itself. 15-20 minutes waiting is bad enough, but with that sort of reply from the receptionist, I would have just made my apologies, cancelled the interview and left.
Always be willing to WALK. It will save you from the mistake of accepting a position in a bad workplace, which can take months or even years to unravel.
I once waited 90 minutes, which I never should have done in retrospect. The interview was a travesty, the hiring manager obviously did not care that I was there, and I never heard back from them again on that job.
Years later I did wind up working for that same company. Didn't work out well in the long run, I should have learned.
I would not wait more than 20 minutes at this point in time.
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