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Tue 30 Jul, 2013 03:18 pm
I had a job applicant come in for an interview. She was asked to sit in the lobby and wait for me, that I would be with her shortly. In less than 5 minutes, I went to the lobby to meet her. She was not in the lobby. I found her wandering around in our building, looking at pictures on the walls along the way. I asked her what she was doing in the halls and her reasoning was that the building was so lovely inside that she wanted to take a little tour of the place. She was 40 minutes early, only lives 10 minutes away. I had to tell her to leave and come back at the appointed time. She interviewed well, articulate, friendly, not creepy in any way, seems to have what we are looking for, but our gut is telling us there is something peculiar about this behavior. Can a professional tell me if our concerns are valid?
@hmgoodale,
hmgoodale wrote:
I had a job applicant come in for an interview. She was asked to sit in the lobby and wait for me, that I would be with her shortly. In less than 5 minutes, I went to the lobby to meet her. She was not in the lobby. I found her wandering around in our building, looking at pictures on the walls along the way. I asked her what she was doing in the halls and her reasoning was that the building was so lovely inside that she wanted to take a little tour of the place. She was 40 minutes early, only lives 10 minutes away. I had to tell her to leave and come back at the appointed time. She interviewed well, articulate, friendly, not creepy in any way, seems to have what we are looking for, but our gut is telling us there is something peculiar about this behavior. Can a professional tell me if our concerns are valid?
To be honest, her behavior is much less peculiar than yours.
She was early! You consider that a negative?
She thought your building to be lovely...so she was looking at the decor. You consider that a negative?
She interviewed well...was artiulate and friendly. You consider that a negative?
C'mon!
@hmgoodale,
What I see is a curious individual who wants to know about your company. Since she was "early" for her appointment, that's a plus.
Anything else you might "think," is not job related and should be ignored.
Gut feelings are not reliable to determine whether the applicant is a good employee. That's the reason why you should have a time period (or probationary period) for evaluation of all new employees.
Study "at will employment." It provides legal protections for both the applicant and employer.
@hmgoodale,
If she was not wandering were guests are not allowed, there should be no concern. Otherwise, I think you might be showing hyper-vigilance.
Furthermore, you sent her away for being 40 minutes early? Shame on you!
@Ragman,
Let me add one for advise. There are good interviewing techniques that can be learned. I used to teach management personnel on "how to interview." These are all good tools for management personnel.
If she was supposed to wait for you in the lobby and was wandering around instead, I'd be concerned. If she arrived early and was wandering around without your having to wonder where she went, that's different.
Forty minutes early is too early. But I wouldn't have asked he to leave. I would have asked her to wait. I also would have asked in the interview why she arrived so early.
@hmgoodale,
Also, in the area where she was asked to wait in the lobby, isn't there a receptionist who would have been able to monitor her movements?
@Roberta,
Some buildings with a lobby also has "open" hallways that are not restricted areas. Unless such is posted, I personally don't have much of a problem with somebody "looking at pictures." If she was early by 40-minutes, that is somewhat too early, but many employers like to think the applicant is interested enough in the company to learn something about them before the interview. I also would not have asked the applicant to leave.
There are also many ways to find out why she was so early for her appointment, but I personally wouldn't go too far with this inquiry. There are too many job related questions that are more important.
Like the other respondents have already indicated, I don't see what the cause for concern is. A person arrives early for her job interview; that's a good thing. This person shows enough interest in the company she hopes to work for by looking around the building instead of sitting in the lobby pretending to read the latest issue of Forbes(or whatever); another good thing. What is the basis of the concern?
@cicerone imposter,
It depends on where she was asked to wait and where she ended up.
Five or ten minutes early is good. Forty minutes seems strange to me. When I had to interview somebody, I was ready about five to ten minutes before the interview was scheduled to begin. Forty minutes before the interview I might have been in a meeting, doing something that shouldn't be interrupted, etc.
40 minutes early is excessive, but it's not necessarily a problem. Sometimes people just don't time the trains or the traffic well. Better that it's in the direction of being early versus late.
Wandering is a problem if the areas are restricted or if employees felt they were being bothered, or if customers waiting in the waiting area felt bothered. But it is the receptionist's job to corral everyone. Don't have a receptionist? Then the interviewer should communicate to the applicant that they need to wait and some areas are restricted, but at the same time, in all seriousness, if there is no receptionist, then restricted areas need to be pass or key accessible only.
@Roberta,
She was asked to "wait in the lobby." Since she was early, and assuming there are no "restricted area" sign, I don't the problem.
@hmgoodale,
hmgoodale wrote:
In less than 5 minutes, I went to the lobby to meet her. She was not in the lobby. I found her wandering around in our building, looking at pictures on the walls along the way.
She was asked to wait in the lobby, and that's where she should have waited. She should not have been wandering around.
@cicerone imposter,
She arrived forty minutes early but told the receptionist she was there. The receptionist contacted the interviewer who responded by telling her to wait for him in the lobby. He got to the lobby five minutes later, and she was gone.
@hmgoodale,
Her behaviour is a classical example of "good vibe syndrome" she is so motivated by the opportunity to work there that she is too early for the interview and wants to become part of the organisation before she's got the job. I'd have no hesitation in employing her if her credentials are sound.
@hmgoodale,
My guess is she wanted to get a feel for the working environment. She probably wanted to see what the office was and thus gave herself a tour.
Perhaps it is a bit out of character - but I wish I would have thought of doing something like when interviewing. A great way to view the workplace itself.
She may be the type of person that likes to give extra time in case of the unexpected. Or maybe she thought if you were available earlier you would see her. So much better to arrive early than late.
If she fit otherwise I wouldn't worry. Or you could call her in for second interview with some one just to see if they get a weird vibe or as just a second opinion.
@Linkat,
You touch on a good issue about having more than one person do the interview, but there are also pros and cons about this technique. I think group interviews are appropriate for management level jobs, and that's what we have done at places where I have worked.
@cicerone imposter,
All of my interviews in the data storage field have been with multiple people. It is usually 2 people doing the tech side interview, and 1 person doing the management side interview.
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