Worker’s Text Reveals ‘Frustrating’ Trend Among Job Seekers: ‘Dangerous’

Recruiters have revealed the wild excuses job seekers used to avoid interviews. While the incredible excuses (like mourning a dead fish) may seem strange, one workplace expert said the growing trend could have “dangerous” consequences.

Roxanne Calder, founder of leading recruitment agency EST10, said she had heard every excuse imaginable from workers who wanted to walk out of interviews or not show up on their first day of work.

“The list is endless. The car accident is a classic, as is the grandmother saying they died. We had one candidate that it happened to 10 times,” Calder said Yahoo Finance.

“We had someone whose fish died and he was too emotional to come in because he had to wash it away. Literally they said we had to flush it down the toilet and that was too annoying.”

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Other candidates blamed the weather for their inability to keep up. One claimed it was “too nice a day and too sunny” and another said: “It’s raining, I don’t want to come in, I’m afraid there will be a lightning strike.”

Calder said the excuses always came via text message or email, never over the phone, and were “frustrating” for recruiters who spent a lot of time vetting candidates before inviting them for an interview.

“Usually it’s not because they’re not interested, it’s because they can’t be bothered. They’ve lost interest and it’s too much hassle,” Calder said.

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Recruiters tell wild stories

A number of recruiters have shared the ridiculous excuses they’ve received from candidates on LinkedIn.

A recruiter said a candidate claimed to have been in a car accident and therefore was unable to attend an interview. However, it was a copy of a text the candidate had previously sent.

The story continues

“A candidate used the exact same message to cancel an interview an hour earlier. The first time I believed it, the second time it was just disappointing,” she said.

“As a candidate, please be honest if you do not wish to attend an interview… We do not mind if you do not wish to attend or are not interested in the position. You can be honest with us. ”

Another said the grandmother of one of their contestants “died three times in a row.”

“I’ve heard some of the wildest excuses! “I always find it shocking that people would rather say that a family member died than tell us a few days beforehand that they’ve changed their mind,” another recruiter added.

Even if the excuses are a lie, receiving a message from a candidate at all could be a “gift” rather than being ghosted, Calder said.

“It’s actually a luxury to get these excuses, even if they’re terrible excuses, because it’s more common for people to not show up for interviews or not show up on the first day,” she said.

She recommended candidates “be honest” and call the recruiter to cancel.

A “dangerous” standard needs to be set

Calder said the trend of job seekers making excuses to get out of interviews or jobs has “intensified” for several reasons, including the abundance of available positions following the pandemic.

“People are also tired of COVID and they are also tired of the economy, the high cost of living and all of those things. I think that’s where some of that apathy comes in,” she said Yahoo Finance.

Calder said this could set a dark precedent for our overall attitudes to work.

“It’s dangerous because the more people behave like this and the more we accept it and think it’s OK, the more it becomes the new standard,” she said.

“That’s the part that worries me. I don’t think it’s healthy because it creeps into other things when we think that’s OK.”

Calder cited the example of the recent viral photo of people working on the beach in bikinis, along with the worker who stole an office chair after quitting her job.

“Everything else starts to blur together and we need some structure, we need some structure, we need some manners,” she said.

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