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Another in an occasional series on best practice for interviewers and interviewees.

The interviewee calls ahead

There is no doubt that phoning the interviewer when you’re in traffic is good form. We all get stuck in traffic from time to time, and no matter how much leeway you give yourself to arrive for an appointment, events sometimes conspire against you.

It happens. No-one should get upset –  indeed, the interviewer may secretly thank you because it gives him / her an extra few minutes to visit the bathroom, write up notes from the previous interview or even – and this does happen – re-read your CV for extra information and insight.

But today I was on the receiving end of a variation on this theme which is not so smart: Phoning the night before to say that you may be delayed in traffic the next morning.

You might think that it is courteous and that you are giving the interviewer as much notice as possible. But actually the message you’re giving is: I may be late getting out of bed.

Not a good place to start. If you think you’re going to be late, rather than give advanced warning I’d advise a an alternative tactic. Get up earlier. It’s a simple technique, but one that may not seem obvious to you in the heat of the moment.

“Ah,” you’re thinking. “But what if I leave early and there’s NO traffic? What should I do then?”

If you do find yourself being early for your appointment, go find a cup of coffee and read a paper. Or review your CV. Or read the role description / job spec again. Anything to settle your mind on the task at hand. The activity isn’t  important; what matters is the location. Around the corner, across the street, in the campus coffee franchise. Somewhere close.

Under no circumstances should you decide at the last minute to drive to the other side of town, park your car at the office because you’ll get a better space if you arrive early, then try to get a cab through the morning rush hour. Not a good idea.

All in all, if you think you’re going to be late, do all you can to be early. And if you are early, stay early and read the paper. Under no circumstances forewarn the interviewer that bad traffic in your town may cause you to be late, and then go out of your way to sit in bad traffic.

If all of the above does happen through no fault of your own (although I’m struggling to imagine a set of circumstances where you are forced to take the above actions), under no circumstances whatsoever should you phone the interviewer from the cab and tell him/her everything.  Especially the part about parking spaces.

The job description may say ‘open communication style’, but common sense will probably also be a requirement for the role.

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