when a job candidate reschedules their interview at the last minute

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager.

A reader writes:

What’s the best way to ask a job applicant why they need to cancel or reschedule their interview at the last minute if they don’t offer an explanation? My company hires a good number of people who are fresh out of school and may not have much professional experience, so I don’t want to hold it against them if they don’t realize that missing an appointment for a genuine emergency won’t disqualify an otherwise solid candidate, but I also obviously don’t want to recommend an unreliable candidate.

How can I ask what happened in a way that’s not overly invasive or accusatory?

I answer this question — and three others — over at Inc. today, where I’m revisiting letters that have been buried in the archives here from years ago (and sometimes updating/expanding my answers to them). You can read it here.

Other questions I’m answering there today include:

• Should you mention an employee’s smell during a reference check?
• When people say their boss yelled at them, do they mean it literally?
• Should I contact my strongest candidates before our application deadline closes?