My job interview.....

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JDMPWR
JDMPWR Posts: 1,863 Member
in Chit-Chat
My day starts off with me being woken up by my alarm going off a full 2 hours before I have to be at the interview. I proceed to reach for the alarm and knock over a full glass of water. My nightstand is actually a small book case and it just happens to house my books that I was re arranging. Most of those books are first edition hard covers that cost me a small fortune in either time or money.

I freak out and get a town and try to dry them off best I can and at some point give up and get dressed, go eat, brush my teeth and jet.

I have a hour and a half to get to the interview. My GPS says 52 minutes to get there so Im good. 52 minutes later I get 2/3 of the way there and traffic is at a dead stop. I get off the highway because my GPS says I will make it there with 5 minutes to spare, I want to be at least 10 minutes early and plan to take back roads as it's only 6 miles away. The minute I get off my gps then says the new route will take twice as long. Im like *kitten* ME....I call her and tell her what is going and she is like no problem, thanks for calling and letting me know. I drive as fast as I can and get there at 8:31 and call the HR girl to buzz me in because the building is not open to the public.

I apologize again. I fill out my info. Convo with her goes great. Next interviewer walks in and says I heard you were late, outside of that convo goes well, he then says he is going to take me around and let me see how the sales/ops department works but midst that another interviewer comes in. He also mentions me being late. I apologize again, he seemed real firm and critiqued my resume as it was too long and that I bounce around a lot which if he read 2/3 of the companies were me as a contracted consultant or me working for my own businesses.

Last interviewer also mentions me being late and then lastly the HR girl comes back in and talks to me and says she was fine with me being there as I was "on time" and she would be in contact with me and there is good news. they will get back to me soon, they are interviewing more people but felt i fit well in the carrier sales/ops department and she just found out that they went from needing 2 people in that department to 5 so....

I dont know who makes the final call but if it's a group decision I think they are all going to hold the 1 minute late over my head.....and now I have a bunch of soggy books in my room at home.

UGH SOMEONE SHOOT ME....
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Replies

  • hotpickles
    hotpickles Posts: 639 Member
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    I know how you feel!

    Seriously though, if they can't let ONE minute go, considering the circumstances, then I probably wouldn't want to be working in that company anyways. You called, you explained your situation. I mean, stuff happens right?
  • misspenny762
    misspenny762 Posts: 279 Member
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    Ugh don't you hate it when bad things like that happen that are out of your control... Well it sounds like if the HR girl is any indication that all is not lost! Good luck!
  • Ellem86
    Ellem86 Posts: 204
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    Well the lady said she was fine with you being there "on time" so even though it's difficult try not to worry about it. You called and let them know you would be late which is respectful. Good luck, I hope you get it.
  • KristenAnn711
    KristenAnn711 Posts: 783
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    :frown: I'm sorry

    If it makes you feel better, I just got a call from my college saying I still owe them almost 3grand and they wont accept small payments from me even though I am living pay check to paycheck
  • JDMPWR
    JDMPWR Posts: 1,863 Member
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    I hope so. The other thing that makes me think negatively about the whole interaction was that I was told I would be shown how the department works and never was but then the HR girl mentioned that that department just had more openings so that could of been funneled down to her from the gentleman that was supposed to give me a tour but he was just busy?

    Oh well ill send out my thank you emails and hope to hear good news.
  • Mahlissa
    Mahlissa Posts: 128
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    Arent' job interviews the WORST!!! I have been on some grueling one's myself. Have you ever spilled hot coffee all over your resume just as your about to enter the interview room?...... Yes, I did it. Funny thing is, I was early and they sent me away and said "go get a cup of coffee or something" ha ha, that same cup of coffee doomed me.

    1 minute late, UGH, why did they even say anything. These days resumes don't have job longevity or in other terms, people just aren't at their jobs a long time anymore. More and more people are contract employes, temporary or part time. And the resume reflects this.

    It's tough out there, sounds like you did well. Stay confident and don't worry so much about the 1 min. late. GOOD LUCK!:smile:
  • swany59
    swany59 Posts: 5
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    I feel for you. I have only been late one time for an interview and she made sure I knew I was late. She was a recruiter, most recruiters are very understanding, however I never heard from this recruiter again. The interview went well, but I think she held the being late over my head. So now I'm always there really early and I just wait in the parking lot until its about 10 minutes to. Good luck. I hope you get the job.
  • JDMPWR
    JDMPWR Posts: 1,863 Member
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    sorry dude, that sounds like a lot on your mind. however, perhaps they were trying to get a feel for your reaction about being late to see if you'd shrug it off like it happens all the time. either that, or maybe they wanted to see if you'd try to explain it away. it's amazing what little things like that can do to make an interviewer try to test the personality more than they expected.

    I didnt want to play the victim roll and tell them that in the process of making it here today I essentially destroyed or devalued 1000 dollars worth of first edition books because playing that roll does not show how you respond to your actions very well.
  • Vicky14174
    Vicky14174 Posts: 715 Member
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    OK take a deep breath and take your books and set them all out so they are not touching and dry them with paper towel as best as you can and let me air dry. That's the best you can do for them. But I would advise you either move the bookcase away from your bedside and find something else to set your clock and water on or don't take water to bed with you so that this does not happen again.

    If you don't get this job, next interview plan on being an hour early to a lot for traffic, etc. When you arrive you can sit in your car and prepare yourself for you interview and be calm and refresh and not raddled.
  • TK266
    TK266 Posts: 3,689 Member
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    Yeah that is frustrating that they kept bringing up the "late" issue. As someone who administered a bunch of interviews for a job that required people to keep a level head in most situations, I can let you know part of my job was to see if I could rattle folks without looking like a jerk. They may have been just testing you to see how you react.

    As you cannot do anything about the interview now, I would suggest a thank you letter to the three interviewers. Stress what you like about the company, how you would be a good fit for the position and don't say crap about the "late" thing.

    I think pouring water on my books would have been enough to rattle me for the day, let alone the fracking traffic issues.

    I hope you hear back from them soon.
  • JennS19
    JennS19 Posts: 642 Member
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    I'm sure they will see you for the awesome person you are and realize that hey, your human and being 1 min late due to traffic is not something you could of helped.

    They would be crazy not to hire you. Good luck
  • JDMPWR
    JDMPWR Posts: 1,863 Member
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    Yeah that is frustrating that they kept bringing up the "late" issue. As someone who administered a bunch of interviews for a job that required people to keep a level head in most situations, I can let you know part of my job was to see if I could rattle folks without looking like a jerk. They may have been just testing you to see how you react.

    As you cannot do anything about the interview now, I would suggest a thank you letter to the three interviewers. Stress what you like about the company, how you would be a good fit for the position and don't say crap about the "late" thing.

    I think pouring water on my books would have been enough to rattle me for the day, let alone the fracking traffic issues.

    I hope you hear back from them soon.

    They did but I don't think I showed it. I just apologized and that was that. I am going to send the thank you emails this evening and let the late topic die and hope for the best.
  • astovey
    astovey Posts: 578 Member
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    I've shown up A DAY late before to an interview because I got a new calendar like two days before and wrote the info on the wrong day. I asked them to interview me anyway for practice since I had taken off my other job (that I HATED with a passion)... IT sucked so bad.

    Your situation sounds much more promissing, Good Luck
  • EmpressOfJudgment
    EmpressOfJudgment Posts: 1,162 Member
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    Seriously though, if they can't let ONE minute go, considering the circumstances, then I probably wouldn't want to be working in that company anyways. You called, you explained your situation. I mean, stuff happens right?

    I agree with this statement. Maybe I'm too much of a hippie-dippy new age kind of girl, but I believe in the little signs the universe puts out there. I say if this is meant to be, it'll be. I can see if you were 15+ minutes late, but 1 minute? Come on.
  • astovey
    astovey Posts: 578 Member
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    sorry dude, that sounds like a lot on your mind. however, perhaps they were trying to get a feel for your reaction about being late to see if you'd shrug it off like it happens all the time. either that, or maybe they wanted to see if you'd try to explain it away. it's amazing what little things like that can do to make an interviewer try to test the personality more than they expected.

    I might have said, "just wanted to make myself memorable and stand out from the other individuals being interviewed" I kid I kid.
  • dirtyblue
    dirtyblue Posts: 90
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    If it makes you feel any better, I was late for an interview because I couldn't find the building. Kept calling the receptionist to get directions, showed up late, the interviewer made me still sit and wait to see him. Had my interview, felt all flustered because I was feeling horrible about how late I was. In conclusion, he called the next day and offered me the job!!!!
  • ladybug1620
    ladybug1620 Posts: 1,136 Member
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    Aww well maybe the one girl who was ok with everything has some sort of influence. It sounds promising though that they said you were a good fit. Keep your head up!
  • JDMPWR
    JDMPWR Posts: 1,863 Member
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    Seriously though, if they can't let ONE minute go, considering the circumstances, then I probably wouldn't want to be working in that company anyways. You called, you explained your situation. I mean, stuff happens right?

    I agree with this statement. Maybe I'm too much of a hippie-dippy new age kind of girl, but I believe in the little signs the universe puts out there. I say if this is meant to be, it'll be. I can see if you were 15+ minutes late, but 1 minute? Come on.

    You would think considering the mean age of the employees there is 24-26 and it's in Fulton Market. I walked into the office and what movie instantly came to mind? The scene from Boiler Room when he walks in on the sales office for the first time.
  • JDMPWR
    JDMPWR Posts: 1,863 Member
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    If it makes you feel any better, I was late for an interview because I couldn't find the building. Kept calling the receptionist to get directions, showed up late, the interviewer made me still sit and wait to see him. Had my interview, felt all flustered because I was feeling horrible about how late I was. In conclusion, he called the next day and offered me the job!!!!

    If i didn't stop to read the street signs and followed my GPS I would of probably been 2 minutes early!.....CLICK CLICK BOOM

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