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5 reasons candidates skip job interviews

There's nothing more annoying than spending the time calling job candidates and setting up a time for a formal interview, only to be left waiting and wondering why the candidate didn't show up, without even so much as a phone call.

Sadly, this poor interview etiquette is rife across Malaysia, with 87% of employers encountering job candidates with bad manners.

According to a poll by JobStreet, candidates who are a "no show" are the worst of the bunch (34%) followed by candidates who turn up late to interviews (14%).

Employers are also annoyed by those who show up in inappropriate work attire, and who are unprepared for the interview (12%). Lastly, 7% also complained they have experienced candidates who did not even respond to their interview invitation.

While this poor etiquette is usually displayed by junior executives (66%) and fresh graduates (62%) who might not have as much experience in the job market, worryingly, 22% of bad interviewees have been senior executives, as well as 6% of managers and 2% of senior managers.

ALSO READ:What to do in a bad interviewThe boss's most memorable interview mistakes

So, what's up with the no shows?

According to the poll, a whopping 69% of candidates admitted to skipping an interview without notifying anyone at least once, and 15% have done it twice.

An absurd 8% of candidates have pulled a "no show" six times or more in their lives.

The biggest reason for deciding not to turn up to an interview was 35% of candidates "realised it's not a job near my preferred location". This was followed by 29% of candidates realising "the job does not suit me after hearing from the employer".

The other three excuses given include "I received a better offer" (25%), "no clear job description on job advertisement" (18%) and "no salary information" (16%).

While all of these excuses are clearly rude and unnecessary reasons to not turn up to pre-arranged interviews, the insight should help employers get all this relevant information across to candidates during the initial phone calls.

And thankfully, after discovering employers can tag them as "no shows", 94% of candidates said that they would not skip confirmed interviews again without first informing the would-be employer.

Image: Shutterstock

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