Ack! Missed a call for a potential interview. How should I go on?
August 19, 2014 12:21 AM Subscribe
I missed a call for a potential job interview today, the call was left early in the afternoon and I didn't see it until early the early evening. Normally, I wouldn't be fretting over this, but in the voice mail the manager said she'd like to schedule an interview for Wed. afternoon and now it's Monday evening. Would I be safe with calling her back tomorrow morning and apologizing for missing the call, etc. or would it be best if I leave some sort of voicemail message tomorrow (I wouldn't know what to say though) AND still call back in the morning?
Sorry, I feel embarrassed asking this, but I'm freaking out about missing an opportunity! In the future I will be much more attentive!
Oh, and good luck on the interview!
posted by maurreen at 12:28 AM on August 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by maurreen at 12:28 AM on August 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
Calling back in the morning is totally ok. If you get her voicemail, say you're up for a Wed. afternoon interview, and keep your phone on/nearby for her to call back with an exact time. I agree you shouldn't make a big deal out of it.
Good luck!
posted by ohisee at 12:30 AM on August 19, 2014 [2 favorites]
Good luck!
posted by ohisee at 12:30 AM on August 19, 2014 [2 favorites]
Don't worry at all. I nearly always miss calls for interview as I'm usually working. As others have said- just ring back in the morning.
Good luck!
posted by Mrs T at 1:15 AM on August 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
Good luck!
posted by Mrs T at 1:15 AM on August 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
You are a very small part of her day, I guarantee it. She is not fuming, or even probably thinking about you not picking up a call. But if you come back smoothly and quickly tomorrow AM and get an interview in the diary with a minimum of fuss, that will definitely reflect well on you and you will be one less thing she has to think about in a busy day.
Don't overthink this. People miss calls all the time, you're not being judged for it.
posted by Happy Dave at 1:39 AM on August 19, 2014 [10 favorites]
Don't overthink this. People miss calls all the time, you're not being judged for it.
posted by Happy Dave at 1:39 AM on August 19, 2014 [10 favorites]
If your call goes straight to her voicemail, say something like this, "Hello, Ms. x, this is Anonymous returning your call. I am available at XYZ time on Wednesday for an interview and I look forward to meeting you. My number is 123-4567. Thank you."
posted by cooker girl at 4:33 AM on August 19, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by cooker girl at 4:33 AM on August 19, 2014 [2 favorites]
I don't think this actually counts as a "missed" call - returning a call the next business day is completely normal, and returning it first thing in the morning (whether you get her voicemail or not) is perfect. cooker girl has a good script for you. You don't need to apologize!
Good luck with your interview!
posted by fussbudget at 5:18 AM on August 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
Good luck with your interview!
posted by fussbudget at 5:18 AM on August 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
This is fine. You haven't done anything wrong. Call back this morning. It won't even register as a thing.
(I once managed to *delete* the voicemail, and ended up mailing hr@company.com saying something like "I got a voicemail regarding POSITION but I couldn't make out the contact details, can you please call me back?" and I still got the job.)
posted by PMdixon at 5:40 AM on August 19, 2014 [2 favorites]
(I once managed to *delete* the voicemail, and ended up mailing hr@company.com saying something like "I got a voicemail regarding POSITION but I couldn't make out the contact details, can you please call me back?" and I still got the job.)
posted by PMdixon at 5:40 AM on August 19, 2014 [2 favorites]
I don't think I've ever directly answered a call about a job. It's just like any other call. You were unavailable so they left a message. Any normal person will understand this. You'll call back during business hours to try to avoid playing phone tag. All totally normal.
I've always kind of preferred to get a message about a job I've applied to. It gives you a chance to sort of compose yourself and think about what you'll say before you talk to them.
posted by sevenless at 6:39 AM on August 19, 2014 [3 favorites]
I've always kind of preferred to get a message about a job I've applied to. It gives you a chance to sort of compose yourself and think about what you'll say before you talk to them.
posted by sevenless at 6:39 AM on August 19, 2014 [3 favorites]
You're totally fine! You missed a call to schedule an interview. You didn't miss the actual call for a phone screen, forget to go to an interview, etc.
posted by radioamy at 7:03 AM on August 19, 2014
posted by radioamy at 7:03 AM on August 19, 2014
Breathe. Normal people will realize you have a life and won't always be available to answer the phone. If they don't realize this, well, then, do you really want to work there?
Call back this morning, say you got their voicemail and schedule the interview. If your call goes to voicemail, leave a message saying you are available at X time or Y time on Wednesday afternoon (give at least two options), and to please call back with whichever time works best.
I once had someone call me for a phone interview (yes, the actual interview) on the wrong day. I'm not sure if this was my mistake, or theirs. I wasn't available:
"Sorry, I was under the impression that my interview was scheduled for tomorrow at 11. I'm not available now, I've got a prior commitment starting in about 15 minutes."
There was some discussion wherein the interviewers discovered it was their mistake. I had the phone interview the next day as originally scheduled and still got the job.
posted by tckma at 7:31 AM on August 19, 2014
Call back this morning, say you got their voicemail and schedule the interview. If your call goes to voicemail, leave a message saying you are available at X time or Y time on Wednesday afternoon (give at least two options), and to please call back with whichever time works best.
I once had someone call me for a phone interview (yes, the actual interview) on the wrong day. I'm not sure if this was my mistake, or theirs. I wasn't available:
"Sorry, I was under the impression that my interview was scheduled for tomorrow at 11. I'm not available now, I've got a prior commitment starting in about 15 minutes."
There was some discussion wherein the interviewers discovered it was their mistake. I had the phone interview the next day as originally scheduled and still got the job.
posted by tckma at 7:31 AM on August 19, 2014
I missed the call about a job I'd been waiting on when I was out the front of my house, giving a tourist directions. He couldn't find the van park, I saw him out my window looking confused and turning a map upside down, I went out to offer help, and of course that's when the phone rang.
I rang the employer back, got his voicemail, I said "sorry, I missed your call because I was giving directions to someone who was lost". As it turned out, that was the final bit that made them decide "yes, this is the woman we want for this job".
Ring them, even though it's out-of-hours, leave a voicemail saying "sorry I missed your call, I'll call you in the morning" and then just call them in the morning.
posted by malibustacey9999 at 3:46 AM on August 20, 2014
I rang the employer back, got his voicemail, I said "sorry, I missed your call because I was giving directions to someone who was lost". As it turned out, that was the final bit that made them decide "yes, this is the woman we want for this job".
Ring them, even though it's out-of-hours, leave a voicemail saying "sorry I missed your call, I'll call you in the morning" and then just call them in the morning.
posted by malibustacey9999 at 3:46 AM on August 20, 2014
OK, it's two days late but I'll throw this in if this happens again in the future.
I had a telephone panel interview scheduled - this involved getting three people scheduled and on a conference. I was supposed to call in and join them at time X. I'd been job hunting a lot and (a) got confused about the time and (b) expected them to call me. So I blew off the panel interview and ended up doing it two days later. This is no big deal and everyone knows it happens.
Also, if the company is going to be jerks about missing a call or phone screen you may not want to work there regardless.
posted by caphector at 7:13 PM on August 22, 2014
I had a telephone panel interview scheduled - this involved getting three people scheduled and on a conference. I was supposed to call in and join them at time X. I'd been job hunting a lot and (a) got confused about the time and (b) expected them to call me. So I blew off the panel interview and ended up doing it two days later. This is no big deal and everyone knows it happens.
Also, if the company is going to be jerks about missing a call or phone screen you may not want to work there regardless.
posted by caphector at 7:13 PM on August 22, 2014
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by maurreen at 12:28 AM on August 19, 2014 [30 favorites]