Better to Cancel a Job Interview or Wait and See?

[jeb6294]

If you've decided a job wouldn't work, would it be better to cancel a job interview ahead of time or do the interview and deal with it if you end up getting an offer?  This is still something that could work in the future so I don't want to burn any bridges.

Got a call from the Air Force Civil Engineering Group late last week.  They were calling to schedule an interview for a position up at Wright-Pat.  When I saw the job listed on USAJobs, the pay grade looked like it would be a promotion so I went ahead and sent my stuff in.  Apparently, the Air Force uses a slightly different pay scale that combines two GS grades into one NH pay grade.  I set up a time to interview on Wed. but during the call I found out that this is a Tier 1 job which means it'd be the same grade I am now and doesn't sound like I could go up to a Tier 2 without a different job opening up...the only difference between this potential job and where I am now is that my commute goes from 15-20 minutes to just over an hour.

We've talked about moving up that way at some point, but that wouldn't be for several years until the boys are about done with school, so I don't want to piss anybody off and ruin any chance to apply for jobs up there in the future.

 

[Road Guy]

If you defin don't want the job I would cancel the interview now rather than put them through it and then decline after they potentially offer you the job?

However if you do end up interviewing I would make sure to work into the conversation your issues so its not a surprise if you end up turning the job down.

 

[MA_PE]

I'd be inclined to say while scheduling the interview that the position as posted doesn't meet your salary requirements and if there's no chance of them moving the pay grade then it's not going to work out.  Doesn't waste anyone's time and I don't see as it would burn any bridges.

 

[Audi Driver P.E.]

I'd be inclined to say while scheduling the interview that the position as posted doesn't meet your salary requirements and if there's no chance of them moving the pay grade then it's not going to work out.  Doesn't waste anyone's time and I don't see as it would burn any bridges.

This is how I would handle it too.

 

[jeb6294]

That's the way I was leaning, but I was also a bit curious to see what their operation is like up there...we don't get many Engineering positions down here in Cincy, but there are usually more up at Dayton/Wright-Pat.

 

[RBHeadge PE]

I's still take the interview. Unless you really embarass yourself, it won't hurt you or them. There is more flexability on the paybands than the GS scale. You will likely see a small bump up if you get the job, and you can still try to negotiate for a little bit more after the TJO comes in.

 

[jeb6294]

The NH pay scale is literally exactly the same as the GS scale, it is just several GS grades lumped together separated as tiers instead.  An NH 2 is a GS 5-11, an NH 3 is a GS 12-13, an NH 4 is a GS 14-15.  The way it read, I thought it meant that, if you got hired as a an NH 3, even if they brought you in as a the approximation of a GS 12 that you could still get up to the GS 13 level or if you were looking for a GS 13 spot, they would bring you in as an NH 3 and your pay would start at the equivalent of a GS 13.  Didn't realize they had tiers.  Makes me wonder why they even bother instead of just using the GS scale like everyone else.

I called after lunch and told them that I wife and I talked about it over the weekend and we didn't think we could make it work being a tier 1 position so I didn't want to waste their time and resources.  Also said that we have talked about moving closer to that area in a few years and I would keep my eye out for positions in the future.

 

[RBHeadge PE]

The advantage to this system is that there aren't steps like in the GS scale. You get raises based on performance appraisals and not regular step increases based on time in grade. Typically you get more money faster. But the system is rife with problems too: favoritism and bias - so some agencies are moving away from the pay demo systems.