Representational image."

A staggering 93% of youngsters aged 18 to 24 engage in disappearing acts when it comes to job interviews. They don’t go. When asked why they say they couldn’t be bothered to turn up. This behaviour is not only odd but hardly surprising. I think that the young people of today are vastly different from the way they used to be in the 1990s and earlier.

When I lived in London, a lot of temporary staff who worked in the Department of Trade and Industry were between the ages of 18 to 24. Back then they were diligent and responsible young people and I don’t ever recall hearing about a young candidate who was a no-show for an interview. Nor did I ever hear about anyone turning up late. In fact, I myself interviewed many young candidates for assistants’ roles in my department, in the 18-24 age group, and I don’t remember any of those candidates either not turning up or appearing late.

There’s a popular saying, “Times change, people don’t.” I agree that times do change but, in my opinion, so does the behaviour of the same age group across different generations. An 18-year-old from the 70s, 80s and 90s is very different from one of today. Moreover, this can equally be the case with a 14-year-old of the 70s compared to one from today. In those days they were mostly more polite, more respectful and more responsible. Today they are rude, careless and highly irresponsible.

I find it shocking that such a huge percentage of young people are so irresponsible as to disregard something as important as a job interview. They don’t even seem to care enough to call in with an excuse.

However, I must add with dismay, I’ve always turned up for an interview and have never been late for one, but I have been repeatedly stood up by interviewers. I’d be left waiting either in their office reception or in a coffee shop in a shopping mall. I can recall three specific incidences, one in a shopping mall miles from my home, and getting there was torturous, and two in an office. In the two office incidences, the receptionists had no idea who I was or why I was there. The interviewers simply didn’t alert them that I was coming. Plus they didn’t even know where the interviewers were or even if they were expecting them any time soon. At one point, well into my waiting, the assistant to one interviewer finally came to me and said his boss had to be somewhere more important and would I like to come back another time? The one in the coffee shop was completely incommunicado. I rang his mobile repeatedly over a 3-hour period with no reply. I didn’t know how much longer to wait or whether I should just leave. Suffice it to say such behaviour was a sign that the companies were not for me anyway.

I often wonder how youngsters who disrespect the interview process should be handled so that they learn the importance of respect for their elders and for something as important as a job. But that’s a difficult one.

When I was at university, I remember two lecturers who had a very effective way of dealing with late comers. One used an embarrassing tactic whereas the other nipped it in the bud before anyone had the chance to do it. To set an example, anyone walking in, even a minute late, into the class, was yelled at by Dr Hyatt, with a “get out!”  Embarrassed, the student would take an about-turn and leave.

The second lecturer used the enticing tactic. She told us at the start of the semester that at the beginning of each class there could be a test, the marks from which would contribute to our final grade. If we came in late, we’d miss the test. So everyone was always on time because no one wanted to miss the chance to add to their final grade. The operative word was ‘could’.  Sometimes there was a test and many times there wasn’t. But no one was ever late.