You always meet twice in life

I will show you how important it is to observe this rule in the application process, especially in times of high fluctuation and company mergers, using an example I have experienced. The following happened to me recently in an application process: A candidate had to attend an interview appointment with a potential employer on Monday at 7.30 a.m. At 6.30 a.m. on Monday, I receive a text message from the candidate informing me that he will not be attending the appointment. I call him immediately to find out the reason for the cancellation so that I can explain it to the client in a plausible way. I am directed to the candidate's voicemail! I then send him a text message, and after a long delay (around 7 a.m.) he informs me again by text message that he signed a contract with company Y on Friday. Because of this, it made no sense for him to attend the interview. It was of course too late to convince him that this behavior was not conducive to his personal image for various reasons. The candidate should have considered that canceling an interview at such short notice for this reason would not be acceptable under any circumstances:
- The candidate has put me in a difficult situation as a recruiter and trusted person at client X and has therefore forfeited his reputation as a reliable candidate.
- The candidate has forfeited his reputation with potential employer X, because he does not know whether the position with employer Y, which he is now taking up, will suit him or whether he will have to reapply for a position with employer X if he changes jobs at a later date.
- *It is also quite possible that the interviewer who was transferred by the candidate will accept a position with employer Y in the future and could therefore become the candidate's new superior.
- *It may well be that company X merges with company Y and thus a constellation as in the previous point could also occur.
Ideal procedure: As a candidate, I would still attend such an appointment and only cancel afterwards on the grounds that I have decided on another position. This leaves no negative traces, neither with the personnel consultant nor with employer X. The recruitment consultant or the potential employer must be informed on an ongoing basis that you are still in the application process and that certain decisions are imminent.
Suboptimal procedure: As a candidate, you contact the recruitment consultant before or after signing the contract, in this case on Friday evening, and discuss the situation and the procedure with them. If you were to cancel the appointment, then only with sufficient advance notice and also with the certainty that client X can be informed personally and in good time. However, I only recommend this approach if the candidate is aware of the risks involved. I hope I have been able to explain to you plausibly that the saying "you always meet twice in life" is also very valid in an application process.
The e-selection team wishes you every success with your next application
*) These two cases are very likely to occur today.