Showing up too early to an interview?

Is it bad to show up too early to an interview? I thought traffic would be really bad this morning for an interview an hour away so I gave myself 3.25 hours to get there. I ended up getting there with an hour to spare. There was nowhere to go kill some time so I just went and checked in with security and they ended up interviewing me earlier than expected. Was that inconsiderate of me to check in that early? Did I just bone myself out of a possible job?

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NetworkVeteran

Anonymouse wrote: »

Is it bad to show up too early to an interview?

Yes, when you agree to meet at a particular time, it's undesireable to show up at a different time.

I ended up getting there with an hour to spare.. checked in with security.. and they ended up interviewing me earlier than expected. Was that inconsiderate of me to check in that early?

Arriving early was a mistake. That is neither considerate nor inconsiderate. How much consideration you showed your potential employer after that point is more to the point. I arrived 20 minutes early for an interview a few months ago. I said hello to the receptionist, but let him know I was early, and not to bug the VP quite yet. Another time I took a nice walk around the campus.

Did I just bone myself out of a possible job?

I doubt it! You're likely overthinking this, unless the new role involves visiting customers.

NetworkingStudent

Anonymouse wrote: »

Is it bad to show up too early to an interview? I thought traffic would be really bad this morning for an interview an hour away so I gave myself 3.25 hours to get there. I ended up getting there with an hour to spare. There was nowhere to go kill some time so I just went and checked in with security and they ended up interviewing me earlier than expected. Was that inconsiderate of me to check in that early? Did I just bone myself out of a possible job?

I think it’s bad, but it’s better than showing up late. I don’t think you are out of the run for the job, but keep applying with other companies and follow up with a thank you letter.

I always leave my house an hour early, and then it gives me some extra time, in case I get stuck in traffic. I exit the car and enter the building ten minutes before the interview. In fact, I have a personally rule to show up ten minutes early for interviews and appointments.

I always do a test drive the day before the interview, to get a feel for the drive and location of the company. I have gotten burned one too many times on poor Google Map directions.

To answer your question:

From the Website:
10 Things Your Interviewer Won't Tell You - On Careers (usnews.com)

1. You showed up too early. Many interviewers are annoyed when candidates show up more than five or 10 minutes early, since they may feel obligated to interrupt what they're doing and go out to greet the person. Some feel guilty leaving someone sitting in their reception area that long. Aim to walk in five minutes early, but no more than that.

Good luck--I hope this helps

MiikeB

I always bring my Kindle or something to read in my car in case I am that early, and I try not to hang out in front of the office building I am interviewing at, I just park somewhere else like a gas station or another office.

NotHackingYou

Better early than late but our preference is around 10-20 minutes early. Next time if you get there early, wait in your car and review your resume or anything else to kill some time. I doubt it will be a serious consideration when your interview is evaluated.

SteveLord

15 min early is my preference for interviews. On the subject, in my job when I have guests or contractors come over, I get annoyed by anyone that shows up more than 15min early or just unannounced.

Then I have staff hunting me down saying "some guy is here to see you" and then I have to stick them in a conference room (if one is even available) before I am ready for them.

This week I was expecting an electrician, but was never told what day and what time...so I thought it hadn't been setup on their end just yet. So I happen to be looking out the window and see his van parking. Wtf?

Anonymouse

Oh man I'm facepalming here. I really just wanted to hangout in the lobby until the interview started and I also needed to use the bathroom. The interviewer seemed to like me but maybe he was just a really nice person haha. He said I will hear from them on Monday. This is going to be a long wait.

N2IT

I think 15 minutes early is perfect as well. 30 minutes starts to look strange IMO, but it really depends. If you show up early they may just ask you to have a seat and wait. That can be okay because the filter (Receptionist) doesn't relay the information to the hiring managers. They usually won't contact them until it's time, but if she is inexperienced or whatever she may hit them earlier than expected which can annoy the hiring managers.

Best practice IMO is 15 mins early

networker050184

Showing up an hour early is definitely inconsiderate and would be a negative in my book. People have busy days and probably scheduled you in for this specific time for a reason. If you did well in the interview I'm sure it will be forgotten though.

blargoe

if you're more than 15 minutes early, find something else to do and then come back.

higherho

Don't feel too bad, I was 20 minutes late and got lost in the city for my face to face interview (DC area is so confusing for us PA peeps). Just make them love you in the interview and you will be all set!

Just next time if you know your an hour earlier (or even 30 minutes), just go outside of the building and chill or to a fast food place until its time.

DPG

It is definitely easier to forgive someone for showing up early than late. It is much harder to forgive when they don't show up at all! (This happens way more often than you think it would.)

buzzkill

Not that I interview people, but if I did and received a call from reception that the interviewee was there an hour early I wouldn't exactly be thrilled.

On the other hand, if you were the best candidate for the job it would be quite asinine of them to reject you for that reason.

Iristheangel

I always show up 15-10 minutes early. It's never hurt me as of yet. Everyone has their own opinions on it. I think that trying to time your departure time and arrival time too exact can make it too easy to be late

Devilry

I saw some of this mentioned already but here is usually what I do with interviews:

Research location, do a test pilot run during the day before all the way to the parking lot timed. I always look for a good spot I can park close by in case I am too early and need to wait for a bit without looking creepy. I also time these two apart.

Then I add on 45 minutes to whatever my worse-case-scenario would be drive. I bring a couple cert reading materials then i'm ready. I always get out of car 15 minutes early to go in, it usually ends up being 10 minutes prior to scheduled time when I show.

Roguetadhg

I shoot for 15 prior. The longer the distance for the interview the more time I give myself to get there.

Too early can be a bad thing.

tprice5

Eager to hear how this plays out for you.

the_Grinch

I am always early, for my current job I got the express train and end up being an hour and half early. I just hangout somewhere and then come in 15 minutes early. That being said, I wouldn't worry about it too much especially if the interviewer was able to push things up.

Plantwiz

Early is not bad typically. One hour early, well...but if you had such a long communte and they understood how far you came, perhaps they will have some understanding. It shouldn't play negatively to you, it shows you cannot tell time very well, but it beats being LATE.

Plus, if you had to check in with security, they may not have been excited to have you loitering around, so you perhaps did not have many options in this situation except not pulling into the lot until it was closer to the time of the interview.

And the last thing that may or may not be in your favor, they could have simply made you WAIT. So, maybe they already had a cancelled intereview or thought you were some other person for that time? Or simply figured, "hey, this guy is here, let's get this done!" Whatever the reason, you got in, you didn't sense they were annoyed you maybe did just fine!

Write that "THANK YOU" if you haven't already (it should have been ready moments after stepping out of the inteview) and complete a follow-up call!

Anonymouse

Well it's been a week from the day they said they'd call me back so I think it's pretty clear that I messed up bad on this one. I ended up not sending a thank you letter as the interview was extremely informal. The interviewer was a younger guy around my age in a tee-shirt and jeans and was very casual with his language (cursing and use of slang).

There may be some news on the horizon. I'll keep you guys posted...

NotHackingYou

Good luck!!

Plantwiz

Anonymouse wrote: »

I ended up not sending a thank you letter as the interview was extremely informal. The interviewer was a younger guy around my age in a tee-shirt and jeans and was very casual ...

Ouch!

Well, I guess call it an experience and lesson learned.

And I am not picking on you, but this is not the first time I have asked and/or recommended to someone to send a thank you immediately after an interview and heard... "no, I did not send a thank you and I also have not heard back".

The 'thank you' is THE ticket back in to speak with the company.

It may work out, but keep trying maybe another opportunity will be along and you will be better prepared and land the new job.

rsutton

Showing up early is a life skill. It will not matter to everyone, but the people who do care will appreciate it immensely. As a rule, you shouldn't show up more than 15 minutes early.

RouteThisWay

Always send a follow up Thank You! No matter how casual or informal- that is still someone taking time out of their day to meet with you. And obviously they are busy or they wouldn't have justified filling a position. Keep in mind the day of the week too- I interviewed on a Friday and most people dress casually on Fridays.

With my soon-to-be boss starting Monday (who btw interviewed me in jeans and a Tampa Bay baseball jersey... it was Friday ha), I may have taken that a little far- I sent him a Thank You and invite on LinkedIn. I know that may come off a bit weird, but we both have a pretty good understanding and passion for virtualization. I explained even if they felt I wasn't the best fit for the position at this time it would still be good to network with other virtualization enthusiasts.

Honestly, I wouldn't recommend doing that every time. But the interview went really well and we had some really good discussion on future VMWare possibilities, strategic designs, mistakes we have seen made in it etc and I really would have liked to talk to him in the future even if I wasn't hired just as a colleague in the same field with the same specialization.

Fortunately, it worked out and I was offered pretty quickly after. (And he did accept my LinkedIn request before the offer lol)

SteveLord

Thank you email > reference a specific topic that was discussed or future project initiative.

"I especially enjoyed our conversation about how X technology is going to be used at the company."

RomBUS

If I do arrive early (almost all the time yes) I usually wait in my car or if I used mass transit I walk around for a little until maybe approx. half hour before then check in with security/receptionist. Just throwing some ideas for next time

drkat

i usually show up 20 minutes late.. if they want me bad enough they'll wait

Anonymouse