Hi everyone
Should I still go ahead and put in an application for an advertised position when I can't make the interview date? In case I am selected for interview, I can let them know that I can't make it and simply hope for the best???

any advice please?

thanks
love satchi

Hi Satchi,

I think if it were me I would stress my interest in the job and explain in my application letter that I couldn't make the interview date and why. I would then give a range of other times when I could attend or offer to do a Skype interview. If you wait for them to offer you an interview and then say 'sorry I can't come on that date' it makes you look either a bit dishonest or a bit disorganised. If they put the date in the job details they expect applicants to be free on that day. Of course I understand that if you tell them in advance, they may just bin your application and you would never know whether they might have been interested. It's a real dilemma.

Good luck!

I would just apply and not mention if it was me. You don't want to put them off at this stage. IT's better to know you got an interview but couldn't make it rather than wondering if that was the reason why you didn't get an interview.

hi AislingB and Tree,
thanks for your responses! I have thought about it, and decided to inform them in advance. Because the only way I can make an interview around that time is through Skype. I have decided I'll take the risk anyway (about wondering why I didnt get an interview).

But now I'm stuck -- how do I start to say, sorry I can't come.

is anyone able to help me here with a few starting sentences?

thanks love satchi

I'd probably emphasise the positive in that - a kind of 'If selected for interview I would be available via Skype on the preferred date' - rather than anything beginning 'unfortunately....' or 'I can't attend....'. Good luck!

chickpea thank you! but do I say that I am out-of-the-country???

surely I cannot tell them I am going away on a holiday to say Benidorm??

This sentence:

However, if selected for interview, I would be available via Skype on 1st June. ..(is that all I should say)

thanks love satchi

You could say that you're available via Skype for the interview on 1st June or, if they prefer a traditional interview, from Date X when you'll be back in the UK. My own personal approach would always be to give minimal information and keep it business-like, but others may have a different approach.

thanks chickpea!

OK I'll do this, and then I'll just see what happens.

love satchi

Good luck!

In one of my previous jobs, an interview candidate was going on holiday straight after the interview, so she brought her holiday clothes in with her and asked if she could get changed in the loo! I thought she had a brass neck, but she still got the job :-)

WOW!


love satchi

I agree with Chickpea's way if you are going to tell them.

How much would it cost to fly back for the day them go back in holiday? If I really really wanted a job I'd consider doing that. I had to have a telephone interview from a hotel room once (I was at a conference on Canada and th wouldn't do the interview on a different day). Whilst I can't say I'd have got the job if we'd met Dave to face, I do feel a telephone interview wrote off any chance I had. That said, putting it in the cover letter, at least you're up front about it. Offering a sjyoe interview means you're not saying 'reschedule everything to accommodate me.'

hi catalinbond
it is too expensive to fly back for the day.
I will just have to see how it goes.

I've already gone through a number of rejections (and a few interviews), so I am sure that I won't be heart-broken if I don't get the job (assuming I've had an invite for interview) OR if I am not selected for interview :-)

thanks again for your response
love satchi