Last Thursday I received a message requesting an interview from one of the dozen or so places I had applied over the past three months. They asked when the best time and date for an interview would be, and since I'm free pretty much all the time now I responded with “I'm available for the next two weeks, pick a date and a time that works best for the company.” Seemed like a good move, right?
They respond with a date and time, which was three days after the initial message. I start getting around for the interview and while I'm in the process of washing my face my gut told me to not do it. I wasn't sure why, but I had this nagging feeling to not go in for the interview, so I send them a message with a two hour advance notice apologizing because I needed to cancel the interview. I just told them something personal came up and that I was sorry for the short notice.
Not even thirty minutes before my interview was scheduled to begin, I finally got a response. I was thanked for letting them know, then told “I was actually about to contact you, the interviewer wasn't going to be in today”, and they asked if I could reschedule.
That's when I realized what my gut was telling me.
This company, who I gave an entirely open window for scheduling me in for an interview, suddenly couldn't complete said interview and couldn't inform me about the sudden lack of interviewer not even a half hour ahead of time? They put in their schedule for their time and had known about it for three days.
I thought letting them know I wasn't going to make it in with two hours notice was cutting it kind of close, but apparently, I was very generous!
I went back over the job description and checked out all the other available positions with this company, and I noticed something very peculiar. Not only is there seemingly an opening in every department, but the job description boasts about “new ownership” with every application.
Why do I get the feeling the new owner shouldn't be the one in charge?
At any rate, this was nothing too dramatic, but I figured I'd share my story.
TL;DR – Gave a two hour notice about not being able to make an interview, get a response half hour before said interview that the interviewer wasn't even going to be there anyway.