I had a client call me the other day and ask me this: “Beth, what do you do when you have a candidate that shows up late?”
“Tell me more about that,” I said.
“Well, we had a candidate show up late for their third interview. They just walked in 7 minutes late, sat down and didn’t say anything about being late. They have all of the skills that we want, they were great in their interview, and they are very friendly. We really like them!”
I responded with this: “How important is it that they are on time? How important is it that they meet deadlines? And, how important is it that they own up when they are late or going to miss a deadline? Do you want to take that risk?”
There was a long, long heavy sigh… Then, my client said, “Well shit.”
Here is the short answer to any interviewing dilemma: Let them.
Let them be late. Don’t save them. Don’t ask them to explain it, just let them be late. And for goodness sake, don’t hire them!
Let your candidates not do their homework. Let them not turn in homework early. Let candidates not answer your question fully and completely.
Trying to change a candidate in the interview process is going to be disastrous. And frankly, it just won’t lead you to the results that you are looking for.
POWER THOUGHT: Struggling with a candidate? Let them be who they are going to be.
***Conceptual credit to Mel Robbins