Dear Cindy – Good Reasons for Being Late to an Interview?

What are some good reasons for being late to an interview?

Sincerely,

Wondering

What an odd question. It makes me think that you're either an interviewer who is wondering whether you should give someone a break, or an interviewee who is on her/his way to an interview, is late, and is looking for a good excuse …

Deciding on whether something is a good reason or not can be whittled down to a few factors.

Anything reflective of bad planning on your part is not a good excuse. This would be things such as missed the bus, stuck in traffic, didn't set the alarm, didn't get a babysitter, etc.

Anything philanthropic – that is not reflective of bad planning on your part – is a good excuse. So, for example, if you were taking public transit to your interview and ended up performing CPR on a fellow passenger, and so were late, that's a good excuse. If you offered to pick someone up from the airport the morning of your interview, and didn't think about how often planes are late, and … it's not a good excuse.

Anything totally outside of your control – that is not reflective of bad planning on your part – is a good excuse. For example, suppose you gave yourself plenty of time to drive to your interview – even in bad traffic, you'd arrive at the place early – but a tractor-trailer crash occurs in front of you, so you're stuck, and can't extricate your vehicle from traffic to head down an alternate route. That's a good excuse. Or suppose you planned to take transit, and workers, without warning, staged a wildcat strike – that's also a good excuse. But suppose it was well advertised that a transit strike was pending, and you didn't make plans for a cab or ride – then it's not a good excuse.