9y
I would like to provide some facts, which I believe are important in this case.
I emailed this candidate to confirm an in-person interview on the day and time that the candidate said they were available. The candidate replied that they needed to postpone the interview, at which point I called to figure out why, since coordinating schedules among multiple people can be difficult. The candidate stated that they needed to delay the interview by two days (which is three days from when I called) so that they had adequate time to print their résumé and iron their shirt.
Upon hearing this I became concerned that the candidate was not fully interested in the job, and before scheduling time with the candidate and a handful of internal people, I wanted to make sure the candidate was interested. The candidate reluctantly agreed after I questioned the need to delay the interview to print a résumé we already had and to iron one shirt. I told the candidate that I would talk to the hiring manager and then be in touch if there were concerns.
Upon a reflection of the conversation, I called the candidate back to let them know that I would be canceling the interview because his reasons for postponing caused concern about his reliability and dependability. The candidate replied with a profanity-laced rant, which Glassdoor does not allow me to place here, even if I censor the profane words. After his rant, he promptly hung up.
I can say, almost universally, that If simply getting dressed is too much of a burden to go to an interview at a date and time previously agreed upon, then I don’t think the job is right for the candidate - regardless of candidate or employer. There are probably other places that are a great match for the candidate, but in this case, the reasons given for not being able to come to the interview coupled with the profanity-laced response, made the decision clear and I don’t believe my decision was unreasonable. This candidate will likely have a great future at an organization, but it wasn’t a match for us.
I always feel that I can do better, but there was no anger in this issue from me – I wasn't the one yelling, cussing, and hanging up. I work with candidates and people every day. In this case, I was actually shocked that a candidate couldn’t make an interview at the time they said they could because they had to iron one shirt. We definitely have improvements we need to make, but at the same time, we want to make sure we spend time interviewing people who have some motivation to interview and aren’t deterred by one un-ironed shirt.
