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I got an interview call from a company after a friend referred me for a vacancy in his team. The call was from a team manager and not any HR personnel.

One interview for this week, Monday, was scheduled.

Since my current employer does not support WFH (work from home), I scheduled the interview for the morning and informed my manager that I would be running late. After waiting for a good half an hour I came to know through my friend that the person who called me was on emergency leave.

Three days later (yesterday) without any warning they sent me a coding test to complete within 24 hours.

This was on Thursday: yesterday.

I had a release the next day (i.e., today) and unknown to me I had to work overtime yesterday.

I didn't get any time to complete the test, and the link expired.

(I feel the company should have asked me about my availability before sending a test like this especially on a weekday.)

How should I reply to them now?

Peter Mortensen
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Somya
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4 Answers4

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Yes, it was unexpected and should have happened in a better way.

However, you did one mistake here, you should have immediately responded to them declining to take the test (exactly the reasons what you've said in the question). However, if you still did not communicate anything after receiving the email, it's still not too late, take action as soon as possible.

Reply to them in a way which:

  • Lists the previous incidents happened (uninformed cancellation, no heads up etc)
  • Still shows a positive attitude to resolve the issue and get going forward
  • Sounding confident and not desperate for the job.

Something along the lines of:

"Hello, I'm sorry to inform that I could not complete the coding test you sent me.

However, at the risk of sounding like an excuse, let me also add that the previous interview which was scheduled did not take place, without any prior information. The follow up test, also showed up without any prior notice, thereby I could not take proper actions.

I sincerely expect to have the interview / test re-conducted and the timings to be confirmed well in advance this time so that I can plan my work accordingly. Please let me know when is a good time to discuss about the availability and put something in the calendar so it works smoothly for all of us.

Regards, Somya"

In case they comply, you can go ahead. However, if they do not seem to receive the response well, it's a red flag about the company culture they maintain, where time is not valued. I'd think twice then before making progress on associating with them.

Community
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Sourav Ghosh
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  • Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat. – Neo Apr 12 '19 at 16:26
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    I think this is the right approach but the language is probably even too indirect. Rather than 'at the risk of sounding like an excuse' (which does nothing but make it sound like an excuse, and that you know it's just an excuse) I'd just say something more like 'I had cleared time on my schedule for Monday morning and unfortunately we were not able to spend time together then. Due to time constraints I was not able to devote time to the project on short notice on Thursday/Friday'. OP doesn't owe them an excuse/reason any more than he should demand same from them.... – Alex M Apr 12 '19 at 16:44
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    ...all that's happened so far is a minor scheduling conflict has prevented two parties from getting together for a mutually beneficial goal. It only remains to try to reschedule at a time that works for both. – Alex M Apr 12 '19 at 16:44
  • Definitely, this is the right answer...if combined with Alex M's comment suggestion about not being defensive about something that is not your fault. – Beska Apr 12 '19 at 18:26
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    never use the phrase "at the risk of sounding like an excuse" in business, for any reason! – Fattie Apr 12 '19 at 18:28
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    @Fattie: My reading of this, is that the language here is adapted for Indian approach to business communication. Which is a different style to your suggestion. However, that piece of background information is not in the question or answer. Ideally it would be in both. – Neil Slater Apr 12 '19 at 19:07
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    @NeilSlater i'm in mumbai – Fattie Apr 12 '19 at 19:56
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    @Fattie Sorry sir, but I noticed you mention that couple of times now. Apart from the legal aspects which depends on country, what other difference exactly does it make whether you are in certain country or not? – Sourav Ghosh Apr 13 '19 at 04:42
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    Also, @Fattie, if you've been around for long, you definitely know this "short email means, you have not put enough time writing it, means you do not value the communication, means you don't get the job." - is a common thing for Indian recruiters. – Sourav Ghosh Apr 13 '19 at 04:44
  • @Fattie: In which case I cannot tell the relative merits of your simplified version and the suggestion in this answer. Other than to say that your version would be work for me in the UK. – Neil Slater Apr 13 '19 at 08:37
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    I find it ironic that Sourav started by critisizing my answer. Now we see that after a bunch of edits, his answer is slowing morphing into mine. And yet he complains about downvotes? – bremen_matt Apr 13 '19 at 08:47
  • @bremen_matt voting is totally random/bizarre on this site, don't worry about it. (One voting phenomenon is velocity voting, quite simply answers that come later get less votes. As an experiment I've sometimes put in just totally off-topic answers to questions (as soon as the question is posted) and I get lots of votes, and then delete it :) The only SE site with weirder voting is the ELL site. – Fattie Apr 13 '19 at 11:34
  • I am not driven to share my experience on this website by how many points I collect. I will only chime in if I feel that I can add to the conversation. However, what really bursts my bubble is when somebody 1. Complains that people are downvoting their opinion 2. criticizes your opinion then 3. Changes their answer to be contextually the same as yours without giving you credit, then I view this as damaging. – bremen_matt Apr 13 '19 at 11:42
  • Such behavior has the following side effects: 1. It demotivates people to contribute since they will not be recognized for their opinion 2. It defies the purpose of the platform... to provide the person asking the question different possible answers which the community can come to a consensus on regarding which approach is best And 3. It deligitimizes the character of the site as a whole if the "authorities" are blatantly ripping off other people's answers without credit to get more upvotes. – bremen_matt Apr 13 '19 at 11:46
  • There would have been nothing wrong with Sourav leaving or deleting his original post. In fact I would prefer he left the original answer as this would provide another point of view to the person asking the question. Perhaps the community would have even considered the original post to be the best answer. He could have even posted a different answer if he wanted. But you should ask yourself ... how would the community have viewed his current answer had mine already been in place. – bremen_matt Apr 13 '19 at 11:52
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    In principle, this is about the right approach, but the current wording has severe issues likely to cause the immediate end of your candidacy - especially where you state what you "expect" of the other party. While you can decide what you will accept language which dictates terms like that while in an applicant's position is likely to end their interest. If you want this job, stick with language which suggests or deferentially requests. State the facts of your situation as facts not excuses, express your willingness to reschedule, and allow the company to decide their interest. – Chris Stratton Apr 13 '19 at 17:09
  • @bremen_matt Two things I'd like to clarify here: 1. Initially I assumed it's a current day scenario (which it was), and later from the comments it appeared that it's a week-past case, that's why I changed the tone of my suggested communication. Now once OP says it's a current day scenario, it gets back to the ground based on which the initial answer was composed. 2 I never deleted my comment, I still stand by it. What I feel in SE that the answers should be useful overall, that's why we're allowed to discuss about it and have the edit option to change to improve the content. – Sourav Ghosh Apr 14 '19 at 15:42
  • @bremen_matt getting to your three points, we are entitled to have different opinion. Why do you feel having other answers which may be same in general is a problem? I'd have deleted the post if I'd feel that the answer is not useful, but in my opinion, it is not. For example, at times, we delete positively scored answers, and keep the negatively scored answers - based on the thought whether the answer is useful or not. – Sourav Ghosh Apr 14 '19 at 15:49
  • Voting is something that is anonymous and everyone has equal rights (one vote per post) for it, no one is compelled to vote for (or against) any question or answer. There are cases where there are multiple answers suggesting the same thing and they all get the votes (up or down) based on their acceptability. – Sourav Ghosh Apr 14 '19 at 15:51
  • Finally, getting some imaginary internet points does not mean much anyway in the real world. What matters is, at the end of the day, we should be able to help a soul. Even if we are not able to help, we must not lead them in a wrong path. That's what a community is all about. I try to follow that. – Sourav Ghosh Apr 14 '19 at 15:53
  • If I had offended you any way during the conversation, please know that it was not my intention. I find discussion / communication is a great way to learn and improve. and yes, words are attributed, not thoughts. Imagine if anyone has to attribute every improvement they made - would that even be possible? – Sourav Ghosh Apr 14 '19 at 15:55
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The more time that passes, the worse this looks.

The ideal case would have been to respond immediately to their test request:

I am very sorry, but I was not aware from my previous contact with your company that I would be required to take a test today. Due to my work situation (give more details if there are urgent deadlines, etc...), I will not be able to take a test until the weekend. I would be glad to take a different test if you feel that that would be more fair to the other candidates.

If you have had no contact with the company since receiving their test request, then the above is still a valid response. You could basically pretend that you did not see their email.

If you acknowledged that you received the test request, and simply did not do it, then you are in a very bad situation. Anything you say at this point will come across as an excuse. If you are an average candidate for them, then I think your chances of getting the job have dropped to 0. If you are an above average candidate, then they might grant you forgiveness.

FWIW: I am in charge of hiring for several positions in our company. We also give a prescreening test to candidates (although we typically give 1 week to complete). I am glad to delay the test if a candidate tells me that they are busy over the next few days. However, if we agree on a timeline for the test, and you simply can't be bothered to do it, then I simply can't be bothered to give you a job. There are deadlines in industry. If we agree on a reasonable deadline, and you do not meet that deadline, then what does it say about how you will perform in my company.

bremen_matt
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    I agree very much with the first sentence, however, i don't agree with the "If you acknowledged that you received the test request, and simply did not do it, then you are in a very bad situation.". All has their times allocated, no one is up for a on the spot coding test without a heads up. – Sourav Ghosh Apr 12 '19 at 12:18
  • If he did not indicate that it would be a problem upon receiving the test, and instead said something like, "Thanks, I received the test." Then the implicit assumption is that it will not be a problem for him. I agree that the company SHOULD have given him a heads up. They bear some of the fault for this siutation. But by not indicating that taking the test will be an issue, the candidate is complicit in everything that transpires after that point. – bremen_matt Apr 12 '19 at 12:33
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    However, if we agree on a timeline for the test, and you simply can't be bothered to do it, - not very relevant here, is not it? This indicates there has been some communication and agreed upon time or timeline, not some out of blue request. – Sourav Ghosh Apr 12 '19 at 12:44
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    We are all arguing about the appropriate response. I think this all hinges on whether the candidate acknowledged that he received the test, and indicated whether or not he would complete it. If he indicated that he would complete the test, but did not, then he is in a very bad position. If he never indicated that he received the test, then the company has no reason to believe that he received the email in the first place. – bremen_matt Apr 12 '19 at 13:00
  • this is a great answer, and actually includes real-life experience. good one – Fattie Apr 13 '19 at 11:32
  • If by “received the test request” you mean “read the test request in time to either respond saying you didn’t have time to take the test right or to actually take the test”, then I agree, if you mean “it arrived in your email server”, I totally disagree. I currently have approximately 10 thousand unread messages in my email account. One or two of them I may eventually regret not reading sooner, but that’s life. – jmoreno Apr 13 '19 at 12:06
  • All I am saying is that if the OP can legitimately pretend that he never saw the test request, then he should do so. I believe this is fair because the company acted unprofessionally by sending the test without first agreeing on a time window – bremen_matt Apr 13 '19 at 12:09
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    @bremen_matt - there's no need to "pretend" not to have seen it - accomplishing one's current responsibilities before digging into new possibilities is entirely appropriate and those obligations are sufficient explanation by themselves. As long as the candidate didn't respond to the request with an agreement to complete it in 24 hours, not having time is legitimate; especially if it can be truthfully stated that they did not have time to even initially look at or attempt to begin. – Chris Stratton Apr 13 '19 at 17:01
  • I agree that from a moral point of view, it is best not to lie, and to state the facts as they are. However, I believe that that diminishes your chances of getting a callback. If your story is that you saw the email, but honestly didn't have time to take the test, then I would have expected you to tell me sooner rather than later. How long does it take to write an email? A professional recruiter would acknowledge the mistake of not informing the candidate a priori and let the candidate retake the test, but I don't think you can rely on that. The recruiter may feel slighted. – bremen_matt Apr 13 '19 at 18:13
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Off course it is common courtesy for them to ask if you could spare some time for the exercise especially that it was not indicated you've have to do one earlier in the process. It would raise some eyebrows with me and definitely count as a negative when evaluating options (for the reasons others have mentioned).

Looking past that though, it depends on how much you want the job. I've had this happen to me a couple of times and I replied right away indicating I'd not be able to make the deadline but offered a new time instead.

If the task is vague or you aren't sure how long you'll need - do ask if there's a timeframe in which they expect the exercise to be done (reasoning below).

Hi so-and-so,

Thank you for the exercise. I look forward to the challenge. I reckon I will need 3 hours to complete it however I am caught up with some blah-blah-blah today and will not find good time in which to work on it. Do you mind if I completed it and came back to you on Friday instead?

I notice there isn't a mention of how much time should be spent on the exercise - please could you give me an indication?

This is kind of important to do and in itself shows them how you can manage expectations amongst a busy schedule, be open in your communications, etc. Usually they understand and appreciate the pragmatism. If they find this unacceptable, then yes you really ought to reconsider working for them.

For the reason behind deadlines like this - It's often the case with homework exercises they don't want you to spend more than an allocated time and hence the short notice. i.e. If you took the weekend to complete what should be a 2 hour exercise, sure you're going to come up with something quite polished that does not accurately represent your skills and abilities - especially against other candidates do only take 2 hours and Hiring managers need to make decisions with this constraint as a factor. This is even more reason to indicate upfront that you need a block of time. Here I would make use of Github or similar that shows the timeline of all the your work on the exercise (as well as how you branch, commit, test, refactor, etc, etc). You could point this out to the interviewer.

It sounds as though you've missed the deadline now so perhaps do something similar in retrospect?

I really do apologize. I thought I would have had some quality time to focus on the exercise but due to unforeseen blah-blah-blah I found I couldn't complete it on time. I've included a link to the github project showing the approach and how much time I took, etc - I hope this suffices in this form. I look forward to your feedback.

shalomb
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    It doesn't sound like the exercise was even begun (link expired) and that is a good thing - it is much better to not have started than to have begun but failed to complete in the allowed time. If the testing system shows that they link was never even opened before expiry, then they can be re-invited to the same exercise, while if it appears they began, a different exercise would be required. Of course the merits of automated time-limited tests are limited enough that they are hopefully being used for nothing more than "does this person have half an idea what they are doing" filtering. – Chris Stratton Apr 13 '19 at 17:03
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You have dodged a bullet. It's not normal to issue a test with such a short time-frame for completion, unless both parties have agreed to the time-frame in advance. I usually can't complete a moderate length task from my current employer in such a short time-frame due to the amount of work sitting in my stack, let alone a potential employer who cancelled an interview during the same week.

Responding quickly would be the most professional thing to do, but if they aren't able to conduct themselves professionally (like setting up a time in advance for which to complete such a test), then you should consider yourself lucky that you got filtered out of their hiring process.

Philip Schiff
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