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Suppose I have an offer in company A and company B asked me to interview before. Should I call company B voluntary that I wouldn't come to interview? Is it non ethical that doesn't attending to interview sliently? (I fear I will be blacklisted elsewhere!)

Note: my question is different from Should I go to an interview I don't intend to accept the job (if offered)?: those question is about whether I should go to an unwanted interview, but in my situation, it assumes I already given up the unwanted interview, and I want to focus on the consequence of missing interview without noticing the company, instead of the value of unwanted interview

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Gstestso
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    "Is it non ethical that doesn't attending to interview sliently?" - Are you asking if it's ethical to ignore their interview offer? The answer to this is yes, but it's almost certainly better just to be up-front. If your answer is no, just say no. If you prefer email, write them and thank them for the offer but that you've decided to withdraw from the interview process. – Brandin Jun 06 '16 at 06:12
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    "company B asked me to interview before" - if you had already agreed to the interview, then ethically you've got to cancel (if you don't want to go anymore). I think you should clarify this in your question. Did you already agree to the interview? Or did they just suggest it and you're deciding whether to agree to it or whether to just ignore the email. – Brandin Jun 06 '16 at 06:23
  • @AmyBlankenship not quite a duplicate. The other was about going to a job interview without intention of taking the job, this one is about not showing up to an interviewing and wondering if he should tell them why. A definite distinction between the two – Old_Lamplighter Jun 06 '16 at 20:36
  • I guess you read the question differently than I did. – Amy Blankenship Jun 07 '16 at 14:56

3 Answers3

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You should definitely tell them if you plan to not attend the interview, not just out of fear from blacklisting, but just out of respect for their time. Preparing an interview takes lots of work depending on the position, and you should respect their time enough to let them know.

In addition to that, you could be uneligible for hire at that company, or, as you said, even take a hit in your reputation in the industry overall.

That being said, you should generally only not attend the interview if you're absolutely certain you want to accept offer A, and have no further interest in even pursuing B. They could end up making you a better offer.

Magisch
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    Yep, also only do this if offer A is in writing. –  Jun 06 '16 at 08:18
  • You covered all the bases. Blowing off an interview can very much be a career limiting move. That could come back to haunt someone in so many different ways. – Old_Lamplighter Jun 06 '16 at 20:41
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If that offer from company A is in writing and has no contingencies, and there is nothing that company B could offer you that would make you not pick company A.

Then cancel the interview and tell them why: tell them you have decided to accept an offer from another company. You don't need to tell them more than that.

But if all the conditions outlined in the first paragraph have not been met, then the fact that you have an offer from company A doesn't stop you from interviewing with company B; or applying to company C, D and E. A few years ago I applied for several positions during the week that I had between the first offer that had contingencies and a low salary, and the eventual one I accepted that had zero contingencies and additional compensation.

mhoran_psprep
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You go to that interview at company B unless you have a written, irrevocable offer that you are going to accept, no matter what B would offer you.

So if all you have is a verbal offer, you go to the interview. You know what offer they'd likely have to beat, so you can go there with little worries, show yourself in the best possible light, and try to get a better offer than the one you have. If instead of having the attitude "I need to get a job" you have the attitude "I'll try to get an offer that is better than A's offer", you may be able to achieve a lot more.

gnasher729
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