Wrong..... there are alot of other things that goes into a productive person other than the hard knowledge.... Showing up is one of them, you got to show up everyday on time and stay late to be successful period!

I remember my first day at work, the schedule stated clearly 8-5pm, so I got to work at 7.30 am thinking I was the first but guess what 80% of people were sitted and working, and at 5pm, I was looking around and no one was getting up to leave and when I inquire, everyone of them had a Sr before their names. That is the reality of life unfortunately!

Aint you the best!! ati calling to find out why an interviewee hasn't made it at the expected time.

I will still interview a late candidate, but you will have to wait until I have the time... and wait, and wait, and wait- or I will do something odd like take a long lunch, eat, and run errands and drag you along to see how you react, while casually asking all that I want to know. Some candidates I have flown in and picked up, so if they are late, I understand that it's not their fault.

For most of the business world, you have to be on time, especially for an interview. Most managers aren't as flexible as I am, so it pays to be prompt. It does show that you are taking the position seriously.

I have had some excellent reports come in late and wear inappropriate clothing that I've ended up hiring. One of the reasons for this is that I'm not a stickler about when you come into the office, or even IF you come into the office. I rarely require my reports to come into the office- but I do require 24/7/365 access to you via phone, IM, and e-mail. You also must be able to VPN-into the network. But anything over an hour late on a first interview, or wearing shorts or flip flops, and I will make the interview fairly blunt and a bit curt... but I will still give the interview. You might end up waiting until 6:30pm for me if you are an hour late, but I'll give you the chance if you still want it.

If they "wow" me in the interview, I will ask them back for a second interview, and I will tell them to be early and wear a suit, or a dress not meant for the nightclub, for ladies. If they can follow these directions, then they are on good footing- they can listen, follow directions, and change their behavior. But all in all, I just have to be impressed; that's the most important part. But that's me; I recommend to anyone to be early and dress "smartly".

Best,

Hill

... I do not understand why anyone would be late for a job interview, I just don't have any experience on that. When I was going to school I was told the world is a war zone slight mistake and someone else blow your head and I think that goes to anyone who went to those schools with serious recruiting focus, during my last year in school we had to wear suit every friday for meet and greet sessions where the career center invited recruiters from different companies to come and meet the students, Resumes had to go through career center before you can send it to a company. So I think schools should teach more that just hard knowledge, degree alone is not enough, beleive me there are so many qualified people no one is going to wait for anyone, besides most of the interviews are done by more than one person, I was interviewed by JP morgan right out of college and I met 2 second year analyst and 2 associates in one room, so imagine if I was late do you think all of them would have sat down waiting for me? I also do college recruiting and guess what? Average GPA for the entry level resumes are close to 3.8/4.0, this includes some with lower GPAs but stronger overall resume e.g good intership, double majors, strong cover letters, college sportings and you get more than 100 resumes for 4 opennings which you end up interviewing 12 for round 1, that is after the recruiters have sort through and elim other resumes, so do you think anyone will wait for an applicant? No

One last thing, coming in with a 4.0 GPA with nothing else might not look as good as a 3.5 GPA who played some kind of sports in school esp if you're looking into financial industry, you'll be surprise how much sports is valued!

One very important issue that this thread touches on is the fact that massive levels of talent are not always found in people that are punctual, can properly dress, have a certain GPA, or went to certain schools. Though "business-like" behavior is very important, and in many cases necessary, there are fantastic, fully capable people that are many times overlooked because they need a bit of coaching to "conform".

If you only look at what you consider to be the "perfect candidate", you'll end up with a team of walking "book-bots", that lack the diversity and creativity to really break new ground. It takes all kinds of people to make a great team. Besides, almost every candidate will need some sort of coaching; teaching them to tie a tie and arrive early is far from the hardest thing to teach someone.

You have to remember that many of today's brilliant inventions were conceived by people in a garage, or make--shift small business; people in shorts, jeans, flip-flops, etc., and by people whos imagination exceeds their ability to don a penguin outfit and "talk the MBA talk". I always try to remember this, so I always try to give a chance to people that aren't walking in the door "looking the part". Also, "qualified" means nothing to me in the normal sense. So you went here. Worked there. Graduated with this or that. So what? I wasn't there with you; I don't know what capacity you were in. You could have coasted, been related, cheated, bribed, or worse, and whatever the case, I still don't care. I need to see that you actually know what you are talking about, your resume has to have "hints" and "keywords" that show that you are what I'm looking for and that you have actually done the job before. You also must be able to listen, follow through, and follow up.

I've seen too many incapable people, or smart people that can't execute, in all kinds of positions, at "top" companies.

I'll say this, the hiring process is tough; it's hard to find good people. The process is long and time consuming, and by the time an approval comes down, and recruiters start sending you resumes, most of which aren't very good, it's usually a time crunch to hire someone. That said, you want the best person you can get, unless you are up to no good and are hiring for other reasons.

The worse feeling is when you think that you have it all wrapped up, you tell HR to pull the trigger, and then the person fails the drug or background check, and it's a no-go- or someone over-negotiates the offer and then rejects it- and you have to start over again.

Best,

Hill

Maybe they were just not that interested, like even if I don't get this particular job....I DON'T CARE, how attractive did you make the job compared to the requirements listed???

I'm sure very many interviewees are reading this thread so lets be honest with them.

It is true that one may be very qualified and even get late due to the Jam in Nairobi. It is also very true that you may be the most brilliant mind out there.

But....

If you are late for your FIRST interview, chances are you will not get the job.

This idea that simply because some of the biggest companies started in garages does not mean that they were late! In fact that is demeaning to garage owners who do very important work in the community.

I know watching 50 bob movies is a past time in Kenya but lets not believe what they say.

There is a rule of thumb here.

If Zuckerberg, with his nice shorts, was LATE for his meeting with the Paypal founder, there would be no Facebook.

It's not only for the jobs, its also for all the meetings that we have a habit of being late for.

Being late is not sexy, stylish, or modern. It is just a sign of laziness and possible problems in the future with whomever you are meeting.

Please don't be late.

You're absolutely right. Just replace "Paypal founder" with "C.I.A."

"Nice Shorts"

But as managers, we owe it to ourselves to look a bit deeper on occasion if it truly was unavoidable. But most won't, so your rule absolutely stands. Be punctual and prompt.

Best,

Hill

My take on this is that there are no two chances for a first impression, it has to be the first. Period.

If anyone get these kind of people then there is a problem with the recruiting team, there is a 20-60 minutes phone interview with a recruiter before you can even get to the hiring manager, how did all these kind of people make it through?