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You probably spend valuable time prepping for your interviews.  You talk with your IT recruiters, you brush up on the relevant technologies, you prepare some questions about the job, iron a suit, etc.  When you go to all this effort to wow your interviewers, why hurt your chances by making small mistakes?  Here’s one silly mistake that IT staffing companies see candidates make far too often: arriving too early for the interview.

Arriving too early might seem pretty harmless, but there are a lot of reasons IT recruiting companies see this mistake hurt candidates.  Firstly, when candidates show up more than 10 or 15 minutes early, it can be pretty frustrating for the company.  Some companies simply don’t have the room to accommodate guests for long periods of time.  In the tech field in particular, IT staffing firms find that there are plenty of startups that don’t have much space for the reception area.

Another reason that IT recruiting agencies don’t recommend that candidates get to interviews earlier than 15 minutes is that it might suggest negative things about you.  When your IT staffing agencies give you a time to show up, you make a favorable impression if you show up on time.  Showing up 20 or 30 minutes early simply isn’t on time.  It’s obviously not as bad as showing up late, but your interviewer planned to see you at a certain time.  It’s your responsibility to be there for it.  Not being on time can make it look like you’re disorganized, can’t follow directions, are inconsiderate, don’t have reliable transportation, etc.  IT recruiting firms find that some candidates think people will only assume negative things about you if you’re late.  It’s not true.  The way to make the best impression is to show up at most 10 or 15 minutes earlier than the time your technical recruiters tell you to.

So what do you do if you are more than 10 or 15 minutes early to an interview?   If you’re meeting your IT recruiters to be walked into the interview, call them.  They may have you meet them at a nearby coffee shop or somewhere else to wait.  If you’re not meeting your recruiters, find a coffee shop yourself to wait.  Or take a walk around the area to kill time.  You might even find that the extra minutes are a good time for you to get ready, go over your notes one more time, or simply relax and ease your nerves.