Should I be flexible or decisive if asked when I'm available for an interview?

manpreet Best Answer 2 years ago

I am a recent graduate. I have been going to a lot of interviews lately (software development), and I've noticed that interviewers rarely give you a specific date they want to arrange the interview on (unless it's an assessment day). This gives me two options:

• Request an interview at a specific date - appearing more dominant.
• Say something like "Any time next week is fine, I'm happy to work around your schedule" - appear more flexible.

Both stances could be seen as positive or negative, but which would be considered a better general approach and why?

manpreet 2 years ago

Flexibility doesn't really matter. You don't work for them and you haven't made any commitment to them, so they don't expect you to be able to accommodate anything at any time for them. Just because you're too busy with other things to be completely open to any time they suggest doesn't mean you'll be too busy with other things to do your job once you're hired.

Their job, or at least part of it, is to interview candidates to hire someone. Name an interview time that is convenient for you, and they will make time for it. If it does conflict with something important that can't be rescheduled, they will let you know and ask for an alternate time. If there are a lot of things on their calendar that would get in the way, they'd let you know that those times aren't possible.

If they are asking you to specify a date you'd like to come in, they are expecting you to answer with a date.