Interview Red Flag
Interview Red Flag #1
From Career Tips, 2026 Volume 1, January
I did a LinkedIn posting and survey on SurveyMonkey in which I asked about situations that, as a candidate, you would consider red flags. Let’s start this series with the situation I presented in the posting. Below is the short version, and click here if you want to read the full case.
A client had an interview for an account executive role at a company in which he was very interested, and where he felt he was a strong fit. When he showed up for the in-person interview, the intended interviewer was not available, and had sent someone else who knew little about the role to conduct the interview. This was a huge red flag for him - by the end of the meeting, he concluded that if this was the way they did business, it was no longer a company in which he had any interest.
The first comment I received was that things come up, and an interviewer needing to reschedule isn’t a big deal – as long as they gave fair warning and rescheduled.
He added this:
“When a company is filling a position, all the obligations of business continue. The hiring manager already has a full-time role. Plus, now the responsibility of hiring someone. It is reasonable that an unplanned scheduling conflict can occur. A last-minute change in interview plans or not handling it perfectly is not a red flag. Insincerity in the handling would be a red flag.”
That is a fair point, and a lot depends on the context. I think his last sentence (which I bolded) really hits the nail on the head.
If I (the candidate) needed to drive to an in-person interview, that certainly raises the stakes vs. a video session where I’m not nearly as inconvenienced. And how the company handles it will tell me a lot about how they, or perhaps that interviewer, operates.
- If the company offers a sincere apology for the inconvenience, that goes a long way.
- If the hiring manager offers their own apology, that is even better.
- If no one is apologetic about it, then I would make a mental note to explore how they treat employees, if we go further in the process.
By the way, if the are apologetic, then I want to be as gracious as possible in accepting the apology. This situation could actually work out to my benefit in the long run - think about the relationship-building points I might earn by showing my own willingness to be flexible.
Whether it is a screening interview or a hiring manager interview matters as well.
In a screening interview, I don’t expect the other party to deeply understand the role, so a last-minute change is not as problematic. In the case above, though, this was intended as a hiring manager interview.
I don’t think having someone else step in at the last moment is in itself a big deal, as long as they are knowledgeable about the role.
If they aren’t, then I would find it a turnoff and serious red flag, unless it were framed carefully around
- an exploration of general “fit”,
- a chance for me to ask anything I would like to know about the company and culture, and
- that it wasn’t going to serve as a replacement for the hiring manager interview, which would be rescheduled.
I would also be OK with them offering that, since the original interviewer wasn’t available, they would like to use the time to show me around the company and answer any questions about the company and its culture.
A related issue that a few commenters added was when the interviewer is late with no explanation. This communicates to me a lack of respect for the candidate’s time, and potentially a ‘my time is worth more than subordinates’ attitude issue on the part of that interviewer. For me, that would go on my list of potential red flags, even for video or phone interviews.
So what do you think? Share your thoughts on this at Advice at JHACareers.com.
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