I won't be a disappointment this time.

Interviews come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, but it is generally understood that one needs to be interviewed in order to get a job. It is also generally understood—I would have thought—that before you have landed the job, you should treat any interaction with your future employer as an interview of some sort, even if it isn’t explicitly named as such. I have learned that my thoughts aren’t worth much when it comes to general understanding of how the world works, though.

Example: One of our clients requires potential candidates to tour their facility prior to employment. Accordingly, my company has someone out at the facility twice per week to walk potential hires around the production floor. Since the tour is effectively part of the interview process, we treat performance prior to and during the tour as fodder for evaluation. Said another way: you need to show up. Preferably on time.

Paying attention and asking well-formed questions are a bonus, but we try not to get greedy.

With that in mind, then, it should come as no surprise that not showing up to the tour grants you automatic 'DNU' status (do not use). If you are a no-call/no-show, you are unreliable, and we're not interested in furthering a relationship. Think of it like a date. If you don’t show up for the first date, it is going to take quite a bit of convincing to get a second shot. Not impossible, sure, but highly unlikely.

Anyway, we had one of our no-call/no-shows call back about three weeks after missing her tour date and asked to reschedule. She was initially told no, but one of the supervisors at the facility intervened because she was a referral from one of their good workers and they were willing to give her another chance.

She didn’t show again and didn’t tell anyone she wasn't going to show. Double DNU.

I get a call about a month later:

Woman: I was wondering if I could get a tour at X Company scheduled.

Me: Looks like we had you scheduled twice already, and you didn't show up either time or let anyone know you weren't going to show up.

Woman: Yeah, my son was sick.

Me: Ok, so you missed one tour because he was sick. Why didn't you call to let us know you couldn't make it?

Woman: I lost my phone.

Me: Alright, that explains one of the times you missed. Why'd you miss the other time?

Woman: I told you, I lost my phone.

Me: You said you lost your phone when your son was sick, and that's why you couldn't notify us that you weren't going to make it that time.

Woman: Yeah, but I lost it again.

Me: So, you lost your phone twice. Obviously you found it both times because you called for a reschedule from the same number. Was the phone lost for a month each time, and that's why you weren't able to reach out for so long to let us know you couldn't make it?

Woman: *silence*

Me: You also could have emailed, just reply back to the confirmation email we sent you both times. Or borrowed someone else's phone, googled our number because it's on the internet, and called us that way.

Woman: *silence*

Me: At this time, we're not interested in rescheduling you for a third tour. You were lucky to get rescheduled for a second tour after you were a no-show for the first time. The supervisor was the one who requested we reschedule. We weren't interested in giving you another shot. You didn't show. Again. For the second time. And it took you a month between each tour before you called us to reschedule. I'm not going to schedule you a third time.

Woman: Please? I really need this job.

Me: Did you not need it the first two times you were scheduled and just going for fun?

Woman: I promise I won't be a disappointment this time!

Me: Unfortunately, you were a disappointment the first two times. We will not be rescheduling.

I get that the world is now an 'everyone who participates gets a ribbon' kind of a place, but we try to hold ourselves to a bit higher of a standard to help protect the best interests of our clients. If you have proven to be as flakey as a fresh-baked croissant, we will not be offering you that job.

Keep that in mind when you're on the job-hunt.