Excuses, Excuses, Excuses!

Oh no! Something has gone horribly wrong and now you can’t attend an interview you’ve arranged. What can you possibly say to make the employer give you another chance? Well whatever you do you need to do it well, nothing is more annoying for an employer than allocating an hour of their time to interview someone only for the candidate to cancel the interview at the last minute. So if you want to re-arrange the appointment you will need to do some serious grovelling. Although you might be a fantastic writer, sending an email really isn’t an option. First of all its impersonal and secondly you look like a coward. So whatever excuse you are going to make you should at least have the courtesy to call.

Here are some excuses job seekers often give us when calling to cancel interviews, these are really common excuses and most probably your reason for not attending will fall in this group but beware, because they are so common employers may say “not that old chestnut”. We’ve also rated your chance of re-arranging the interview out of ten. Here you go:

Family Emergency

It’s a golden oldie but it would be very difficult for the employer to say I don’t believe that, but you will probably have to go into a lot of detail and explain exactly what has happened for them to rearrange the interview. Chance of rearranging = 6/10

A Friend Is In A Bad Way

This shows you care about other people enough to sacrifice something that is important to you, but is this more important than getting a job? Your job interview will take about an hour and your friends problem will still be there afterwards. A good friend will encourage you to go for the interview , a needy friend will encourage you to cancel. The choice is yours. Chance of rearranging = 2/10

I’m In Hospital

This will really get you sympathy, no one can argue with this excuse, but again it better be true. You must be really poorly to be admitted to hospital so quickly, it really must be an emergency and most likely the employer will be sympathetic. Chance of rearranging = 8/10

I’m Stuck In Traffic So I’m Going Home

Sometimes employers will be understanding – sometimes not. This is a risky excuse. What you do really should do is call the employer and explain that you are going to be late because of traffic and are they okay with that. Getting there late is much better than just giving up. Also by complaining about the traffic before you start a job could lead an employer to think you would be constantly late if they employed you . Chance of rearranging = 2/10

I’ve Been Locked Out Of My House

You’re in a panic and will have to call an emergency locksmith and that takes priority over your interview. Really!  What sort of person would do this! Usually someone not very responsible, its not something that happens usually, so unless there is a hurricane blowing that slammed your door when you were outside it is really not very believable and would tell an employer that maybe you are not very responsible person. Chance of rearranging = 2/10

The Truth And Nothing But The Truth

No matter how farfetched the truth is it really is important that you are honest, by fibbing you would be starting off your relationship with a potential employer with a lie. It’s not the right way to go. If you miss out on the job opportunity because you have told the truth, then so be it. Better to miss an interview and maintain integrity than move forward under false pretenses.

So there you go! We hear weird and wonderful excuses everyday from candidates cancelling interviews, some we believe , others we don’t. Our advise to job seekers is this if going for an interview is just too much effort. You need to stop looking for a job at the moment. Get yourself in the right place, be positive about your job search and be prepared to make an effort. You have to cancel an interview, think about the ramifications and only cancel if you have a genuine excuse – no fibbing.

Good Luck