Picks and Nits...

If you were scheduled for an interview with company 'A' and then accepted another position with company 'B' before your interview with company 'A' would you:

1. Not call company 'A' and blow off the interview since you already have accepted another job
2. Call company 'A' and let them know that you had accepted another job and needed to cancel your interview but thank them for their interest in you
3. Go ahead and interview with company 'A' anyway since it never hurts to see what they might have to say

Recently we've seen some candidates select option number 1. Most of us might think this is obviously the wrong choice for a variety of reasons. First, it's exceptionally rude to accept any appointment, interview or otherwise, and then not show up and not call ahead to cancel. Second, it burns bridges. Most employers would think long and hard before reconsidering a candidate for future positions who has pulled a no call/no show in the past.

Option 2 is a good choice. We understand that people looking for a job are interviewing with companies other than ours and occasionally receive an offer from another company before they actually come in for their interview with us. However, the thirty seconds it takes to give us a call to cancel while thanking us for our interest keeps the individual in good standing regarding future opportunities they might be interested in.

I personally would opt for Option 3 based on my belief that it never hurts to hear what a company has to offer. The bird in the hand philosophy in a tough job market is understandable, but you never know - you might end up entertaining two job offers and be able to select the one you really want. I see that happen frequently enough that I always recommend this course of action.

On another note, three words that should never show up on an official application for employment are "Please see resume." I've blogged about this before but am starting to see this crop up more often with recent candidates completing their applications with us. If we were willing to simply accept the resume in lieu of an application we would tell you that and wouldn't ask candidates to go through the ordeal of filling out the application. The application is an official form and the information on it should be an accurate and complete reflection of your work experience. Resumes on the other hand are really just your personal advertisement of what you want a company to know and companies very clearly understand that they are not always an accurate reflection of past experience. "Please see resume" listed on our application also comes across as the candidate being too lazy to give us the information we have asked for. Candidates who take the time to completely fill out their applications get far more consideration with us than those who do not.