Late to an interview...

[emerald86]

On my way to a job interview, I got into a minor vehicle accident and this caused me to be late to the interview by about 10 minutes, even though I left my house very early. I did call the receptionist and let her know that I was going to be late, and I apologized profusely to her. She let the interviewers know. Once I met the interviewers however, I was too embarrassed to bring up my lateness. They made no mention of it either. But now I know I should have apologized to them.

 

I feel horrible that something like this happened. I'm always on time to things, and especially to something very important like an interview, I've never been late before. So I'm wondering--can I bring this up in a follow-up email and apologize to them? Or would that be awkward?

 

The interview otherwise went pretty well, I thought. We had a good conversation, and one of the interviewers did mention the idea of bringing me in for a second interview. I just wish there was a way for them to know that I'm hardly ever late to things, and I do take my job seriously.

[Standard-Fare]

You missed your window for apologizing - that should have been done in person first thing. But I don't think it's a huge deal, since you did call the receptionist to explain.

 

I absolutely would NOT mention it in your follow-up email. You don't want to draw any more attention to that issue. Hopefully they got over it/forgot about it.

[spideywoman]

I agree with the second poster. It's too late to mention it now. As you said you should have briefly mentioned it when you arrived. If I was the interviewer that would have been a big no-no but hopefully these folks will be understanding and hopefully the quality of the interview will overshadow your tardiness.

 

Good luck with your job hunt.

[emerald86]

Thanks for the responses--I didn't mention it in the follow-up email. I did get an offer somewhere else, so while I think it would be great to work at this company, I'm more concerned about the impression that I made on the interviewers. I would hate for them to think of me as disrespectful, irresponsible, or anything similar. Especially if I run into them again in the future by any chance, I wouldn't want them to remember me as the person who was late to the interview.

 

I did send nice thank you emails to each of the interviewers, expressing appreciation for the opportunity, so hopefully that mitigated the damage somewhat.