Recruiters Are Still Complaining About No-Shows At Interviews (kyma.com)

An anonymous reader quotes CNN Money: Chandra Kill had scheduled face-to-face interviews with 21 candidates to fill some job openings at her employment screening firm. Only 11 showed up. "About half flaked out," said Kill.... "A year or two ago it wasn't like this." With the U.S. unemployment rate at its lowest in 18 years, and more job openings than there are people looking for work, candidates are bailing on scheduled interviews. In some cases, new hires are not showing up for their first day of work....

While there's nothing wrong with accepting another job offer, bailing on an employer without notice could have lasting effects. "The world is small," said Johnny Taylor, president and CEO of the Society for Human Resource Management.... He added that he's heard of a candidate being flown out for a job interview only to skip that part of the trip. "I expect that if I send you a plane ticket and block off two hours to meet with you, you will show up." As a result, he said some companies are having candidates agree to reimburse for travel costs if they take the trip but flake on the interview.

In an effort to curb the problem, recruiters have been changing their tactics and moving through the hiring process faster. If they have a qualified candidate that seems like a good fit, they work to get them in for an interview the next day.
Inc. magazine once blamed the problem of no-shows on the low unemployment rate and "the effects technology have had on the communication style of younger generations." But leave your own thoughts in the comments.

And have you ever been a no-show for a job interview?

Comments

Don't no-show

[Spazmania]

I've never been a no-show period. If I won't make it somewhere I've promised to be, I contact the folks I was to meet with and let them know as soon as I know. Basic courtesy folks.

I've been on the other end of this too. Seen candidates not show up and then submit an application to a different job 6 months later. Guess who doesn't get considered for the job?

Re: Don't no-show

[that this is not und]

Headhunters just need to be eliminated from the process. My experience has been that third parties 'selling from the middle' will disrepresent the situation to both sides, the employee and the employer. They just need to go find a real job. (for themselves)

Re:Don't no-show

[StormReaver]

This is very clearly a case of a worker's market.

Which is very clearly a temporary abnormality. I've been at the same job for over 17 years. It pays decently, and is enough to support a family of four with mine as the only income, but I could make substantially more if I went somewhere else.

I won't though.

The current job market balance may be tilting in favor of employees at the moment, but that will inevitably change in the near future. And when it does, the, "last in, first out" rule will kick in. Secondly, I left my job once for higher pay, and I quickly regretted it. The bosses sucked, the technology sucked, and the people sucked, so I went back to my old job within a week. Most jobs suck, but mine strikes a great balance between responsibilities and job satisfaction that is very hard to find.

Thirdly, I watched how my employer handled its people during the Great Recession. When major cuts had to be made, "things" were drastically cut to preserve jobs. Retirees were't replaced when they retired, and some employees who wanted to retire early were given early retirement with full benefits, but not a single person was laid off. I have a job where my employer actually does value its employees, and that's very hard to find.

Turnabout is fair play

[asackett]

It's just been routine in the last decade or so, as I understand it, for employers to say things like "If you don't hear from us you didn't get the job." Or for recruiters to post jobs that aren't available, or to interview folks just so they could say that they did so before promoting internally.

Folks learn the rules of the game by playing it.

Re:My peers

[Anonymous Coward]

If you get scheduled for a day/time that you cannot make, you ask for a reschedule. If they deny a reschedule, tough luck for them. If you can't, you can't and an potential employer that don't understand that is not an employer you would want to work for. But then that employer should at least get a "sorry to have to say no thanks, I really cannot make that specific time for an interview, but thanks for considering me for the position".

Ignoring an interview, or even worse, ignoring an interview you explicitly agreed to (and they possibly even paid tickets for you come to) is just showing how little you care. I hope you get blacklisted from any future work within that enterprise.

And "just basically how things work nowadays" should not be an excuse for being a poor interviewee. If it is it will reflect show shitty employees these people will be. If you give your word, I trust you. If you break your trust, you are useless to me, whether you are my employee, co-worker or boss. And you will see that in order to be successful in your career, you need to be able to trust other people around you. When you can't, GTFO as quickly as possible. That is a litmus test that shows you a toxic environment.

Re:This is GOOD!

[aix tom]

The interesting part is, that our company still has no problem finding new people. We put our finger in the air, and get enough people that we then can qualify in 6-12 month on-the-job training.

Companies just need to forget the fairy tale that a recruiter can get them a 100% qualified person. They need to create those people themselves, if they want them.