Jop applicant lauded for walking out of interview after manager's excessive 45-minute lateness

Time is something we will never get back. We can always make more money, but time truly never returns. Time becomes even more critical in our careers, where we can make a significant change every day by choosing to be at the right place at the right time. We should also ensure that others respect our time and not be taken for granted. Unfortunately for one job-seeker, an interview for a senior position turned out into a sour experience because of a lack of punctuality by the interviewer. The post shared by u/Ok-Damage5284 has over 21.6K likes on the platform and over 1.3K comments. They begin the post by saying that the interview was for an "upper management position in a large box retailer."

Everything was scheduled to happen at 12:30 PM. Not wanting to be late for the interview, the author shows up at the establishment at 12:20. Seeing them, a staff member informed the interviewer that they had arrived and said that the interviewer would be "right down." About 20 minutes pass, at which point the same team member passes the author and informs them that they told the interviewer a second time, but the delay must be because they were in a meeting. Time goes by for another 25 minutes and the author loses their patience. Frustrated at the lack of punctuality and respect for their time, they inform the team member that they are going and to let the interviewer know.

As they walk out, the district manager comes in and apologizes for being late and says that she got "caught up." The author responds that it's okay, but they would not sit for the interview seeing that they made them wait for the interview and proceeded to walk out. They also made it clear that they were an "extremely patient person," and this was the first time they were walking out of an interview. The author concludes by saying that they were initially excited about the position, but the lack of basic courtesy made them decide to pursue other options.

People on the platform supported the author's decision to walk out and voiced their support in the comments section. u/JetoCalihan said, "5 minutes I understand. 10 minutes I can forgive. 15 minutes better be a good offer. 20+ and they're incompetent or testing you, and either one isn't worth it." u/AssociateJaded3931 highlighted: "This needs to happen much more often. Almost no one respects job applicants."

Many users suggested that the extended waiting period was a way for the organization to test interviewees. u/Questn4Lyfe pointed out, "Sometimes I think they do this on purpose just to see how desperate you are for this job, but it's a s***** way to go about it. I remember one time I was brought into the guy's office and waited over 15 minutes for the interview and when the manager finally did, he didn't apologize; he just said he was busy. I told him then and there I wasn't interested in it anymore because I was busy too. Funny thing, though: that business went out of business. Guess he ain't busy no more."

Editor's note: This article was originally published on August 25, 2023. It has since been updated.