It’s finally here, the big day! You’ve perfected your resume, worked hard preparing, and now you’re showing how responsible and committed you are to this position by showing up early for the interview. As you take your seat, you begin to wonder, am I too early?
According to hiring managers and career experts, the ideal time to show up for a job interview is 10 to 15 minutes before the scheduled meeting time to allow yourself a few minutes to check in with the receptionist, go to the bathroom if needed and to acclimate yourself with the office in general.
Show up late for a job interview, and you tell employers a lot about your personality and work ethic. Being late for your scheduled interview can be an indication that you don’t pay attention to important details. It proves that you do not value others’ time. A lack of punctuality smacks of disrespect.
If you’re really nervous about making your interview on time, especially if it’s in an unfamiliar area of town, try a dress rehearsal. A week (if you have that much notice) beforehand, drive to the location around the same time of day that your interview is scheduled so you can judge traffic and budget your travel time appropriately.
While you want to allow yourself plenty of time to get settled in before your interview, arriving too early might actually hurt your changes at getting the job. There is a fine line between showing interest and looking desperate so make sure you do not send the wrong message. For a hiring manager, it can be frustrating if their job candidate arrives more than 15 minutes early because it throws a curveball into their schedule since they purposely scheduled the interview at the given time.
If you’re running way ahead of schedule, kill some time by stopping at a coffee shop or run a quick errand. Above all, don’t panic, it’s not the end of the world if your early as long as you handle it appropriately. Give a quick apology, don’t dwell on it and move on with the interview.
And if you’re still nervous about how early is too early, reach out to someone within the company. Perhaps your point of contact could find out if you need to arrive early enough to fill out paperwork before the scheduled interview time. A job interview can be like a doctor’s office visit, you might have to come in 15-20 minutes before the actual interview to fill out paperwork for the HR department.