An Interview You’d Rather Forget About

(I am looking for a job after being unemployed for two years while schooling. I get a call back from a maid service and the woman schedules an interview at a coffee house. I’m 100% sure I’m at the right one as it is the only one in the area. I show up to the interview 15 minutes early and find an empty coffee house. I wait for a half hour and no one dressed professionally comes in and no one tries to approach me. It would be obvious to the interviewer when she came in that I am her prospect as I’m the only one at the tables and the only one dressed professionally. It’s extremely obvious that I’m waiting for someone. I decide to call the company.)

Employee: “[Company]. This is [Employee]. How can I help you?”

Me: “Yes, I was scheduled for an interview with [Owner]. It was supposed to be fifteen minutes ago, but so far no one has showed up.”

Employee: “Oh, wow. Let me try to call her personal cell phone to see what’s going on and I’ll make sure someone calls you back.”

Me: *I make sure she has my number* “Thank you so much.”

(I continue to wait for another half hour to no avail so I decide to leave. I never receive a call back about the missing interviewer so I email the service explaining I had an interview and no one showed and to enquire why no one ever contacted me as they said they would. I quickly receive a reply.)

Co-Owner: “You did not get a call back because you were a ‘no-call, no-show’ at your interview.”

Me: “No, I showed up 15 minutes early and waited an hour. In fact 15 minutes after the interview was supposed to start I called [Company] and talked to [Employee] and she assured me that she would figure out why [Owner] had not arrived and call me back, which she never did.”

Co-Owner: “You were put down as a ‘no-call, no-show.’ That’s why we didn’t return your call.”

Me: “So, let me get this straight. I call and try to inform you that I am indeed there for my interview while my interviewer is not, but you won’t call me back because I wasn’t there?”

(It takes a while for the reply this time.)

Co-Owner: “[Owner] says you never showed up. Are you sure you were at the right place?”

Me: “100 percent positive. It’s the only [Coffee House] in the area and I was the only one sitting at the tables as well as the only one in professional dress. I do not appreciate the accusations when I myself called your company to inquire the whereabouts of [Owner]. I also have a receipt proving I was there 15 minutes early. [Owner] has wasted my time and money, both of which I have very little and could barely afford to drive to this interview.”

Co-Owner: “I suppose I can set up another interview as long as you don’t ‘no-call, no-show’ again.”

Me: “Don’t bother. Obviously you aren’t listening to me. I was not a ‘no-call, no-show.’ I have proof that I was there as well as a phone record of my attempted contact. I have no desire to work for a company that throws people under the bus before even receiving an interview. Obviously [Owner] forgot about my interview and lied about it.”

(A couple weeks go by and I receive another email.)

Co-Owner: “It turns out that [Owner] did forget your interview. Would you like me to set up another with her?”

Me: “I have already expressed how I feel about working for your company. Please do not contact me again.”

(I got two more interviews within a week of the first missed one and by the time I got that last email I had already been hired for a much better job.)