Written by Vaclav Koranda

Arriving Early for a Job Interview Is Great… Or Not?

Arriving at a job interview early is often considered a sign of punctuality and motivation, as opposed to being late. However, as I’ve learned through personal experience, being too early might not always yield the best impression. Allow me to share my personal story:

Once upon a time, my company was looking for a head of procurement. Given the significance of the role, I took it upon myself to personally conduct the interviews. Among the candidates, one lady stood out, earning herself an invitation to an interview session. What followed, though, caught me by surprise.

Arriving a remarkable 40 minutes before her scheduled interview, the candidate’s motivation was unquestionable. I was not expecting her so early and was going through my preparation whilst eating a sandwich in my office. Suddenly, someone showed her in. I was obviously caught off guard but I readily offered her to either wait outside or start with the interview if she didn’t mind my finishing the food. She chose the latter, and so we did. The interview went well and at the end, we shook hands and I told the candidate we would continue the discussion the following week.

The next day in the management meeting, one of my colleagues jovially mentioned my apparent lack of manners. When I asked why, he said I was eating during interviews and it was disrespectful to the candidates. Obviously, someone saw what happened the previous afternoon and decided to twist the story and create a rumour in order to try to tarnish my reputation. I gulped and managed to explain the situation calmly. In the end, it was not a big issue; but as you can imagine, I started to be a bit cautious about candidates that were too early and never ever started an interview before the scheduled time.

As you can see, coming too soon for an interview can have the same detrimental effect as arriving late. If you arrive too early, you can make the interviewer feel rushed and it can even lead to awkward situations similar to my own that will inadvertently not make the interviewer like you more. On top of that, you will inevitably demonstrate a lack of time management skills which is definitely not a plus point.

If you want to ensure your arrival time is perfect, here is my recommendation:

  1. Calculate the net time you need to get there using your favourite navigation app that utilises real-time traffic data. Conduct your measurement on a similar day at a comparable time to your interview to get a realistic estimate.
  2. Aim to arrive 10-15 minutes before your interview begins. Be sure to factor in time for parking your car or walking from a train station, etc. Additionally, in most office buildings, you’ll need to go through some form of a registration process, which can take up a few minutes.
  3. Add an extra 10-15 minutes to your overall travel time for unexpected delays.
  4. Have a plan in case everything goes too smooth and you arrive too early. For instance, consider waiting in a nearby coffee shop while reviewing your preparation one last time.
  5. Keep the contact details of the interview organiser readily available. If something goes awry and you start running late, ensure you reach them through all available means, such as messaging, phone calls, and email. Ideally, have a backup contact, like an assistant or receptionist, in case the organiser is unavailable.

If you want to know everything about successful job interview preparation, check out my book, Get Your Dream Job.

Good luck!

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