The Worst Excuses to Skip Meetings and Interviews

The Worst Excuses to Skip Meetings and Interviews The Worst Excuses to Skip Meetings and Interviews It happens time and time again and it seems like no ever learns. The same poor excuses to skip meetings and interviews are used over and over again. And everyone always gets caught in a lie, which leads to damaging trust between employers and job candidates. So, what are the worst excuses used way too often? Read the following below. “There was a death in the family” By far, this is the worst one a person can use. If you have an understanding of the consequences of actions, you know that lying and saying someone has passed away in your family will lead to more trouble than it’s worth. Here’s why: Staff will show you sympathy and most likely follow up with cards or gifts. The next day you come to work you will not be thinking about it. The first person who asks, “How are you doing?” will catch you off guard. You will have to deal with days of lying to people and dealing with their kindness. You will learn the true meaning of the saying, “Never cry wolf”. Ultimately, you will find this excuse will lead to you feeling incredibly guilty, getting caught in a lie the day that “dead person” calls you at work, or showing your staff that you are willing to play their feelings for simply not wanting to work or attend a meeting. Bad move. “I am too tired” There is not one person in this world who feels like sleeping in at least one day a week, even when they love their jobs. It just happens. We all feel tired in the morning. Some people combat this by working out and others by drinking coffee. Some have a work regimen to remind themselves that feeling tired is only temporary. The thing is people at your company or the general public (depending on your job) rely on you. They need to count on you. Skipping a meeting or interview because you are too tired leads others to believe they cannot count on you. And that means never being promoted and having a short lifespan in a company. Note: This,of course, does not apply to people with physical ailments or disabilities, such as Narcolepsy, Epilepsy etc. But such things are handled with Human Resources and are understood by employers to be a reasonable accommodation for work. “I have a personal emergency to take care of” Jobs are like relationships. If you do not communicate they fall apart. Using the “personal emergency” excuses sounds like a person who communicates poorly, tends to be overly dramatic, cannot be honest with him or herself, immature, has secrets, or is just full of bologna. If you are in a relationship, especially one where you are paid for working, and suddenly have this “personal emergency” you cannot speak of...your company will start to avoid seeing any reason to take you seriously or trust you. This type of excuse is used to try to kill any questions about skipping a day of work or an interview. And it always backfires in ways unseen to the employee. You lose jobs and trust at work but because you kept people at arms-length, they will see no reason to communicate why you never get a raise, a job, or get promoted. “The car broke down” or “My train/ferry/plane wasn’t running” Given you are an adult interviewing for or working at a job, the expectation is that you have a contingency plan for when things go wrong. And if you do not have one in place, they will see it as a sign that you just did not care enough to make one. Another thing to keep in mind, there are these things called “cabs” and/or “Lyft” and “Uber”. If you live in a metropolitan area, using the excuse that trains were not running does not work. Most likely, the people you were going to interview with or work with, took the same train to get to work. You look silly for even attempting to claim that your train was the only one that broke down when everyone else used it. Natural disasters aside (because they do happen), using this excuse shows anyone you work or interview with that their time is not worth a contingency plan. If you do not care enough...why should they do the same for you? “It is a religious holiday for me” Here is a great way to embarrass yourself: Claim to be a religious observer as a reason for a day off, only to find out the person you are interviewing with is a real observer. More so, we live in a global economy and have Google. If you use this excuse and it works, you now have the problem of everyone at work thinking you are of a religious faith...and you clearly are not based on the food you eat, the fact you never took that day off before, etc. If it does not work, you look ridiculous and almost childish. “I tried to make it...but I couldn’t” Ughhh! Nothing says, “I could care less about my job or interview” more than this excuse. This excuse screams of a person who is not willing to think, gives up too soon, and just feels no obligation to explain him or herself. The strange side effects of these excuses Believe it or not, some of the largest companies in the world have doctors on staff, expect doctors’ notes from staff, and bosses who keep track of the reasons why staff takes off. If you have no real reason to skip an interview or job, just suck it up and go to it. You will be glad you did.