A tech professional has sparked an intense debate online after walking out of a job interview for being called out for arriving just three minutes late. The story, shared on Reddit’s r/IndianWorkplace community, has gone viral under the title “Culture at 09:03 is very important for an interviewer.”
In the post, the user described how an Indian hiring manager — who was the Team Lead (IT Operations) — immediately reprimanded them for being late by three minutes.
“An Indian hiring manager, team lead (TL) of IT Operations, bragged because I was late for 3 minutes on my job interview. I apologised, told them I was having logistics issues,” the techie wrote.
Culture at 09:03 is very important for an interviewer
byu/Efficient_Finance935 inIndianWorkplace
However, what followed next made the candidate decide to end the interview on the spot.
“The hiring manager started immediately with: ‘Yes… indeed, 3 minutes late already…’ without introducing himself,” the post read.
Feeling disrespected, the candidate decided to close the conversation there and then. “Understood. I’ll give you the remaining twenty-seven minutes back. Have a great day,” the user said before exiting the call.
The Reddit post quickly went viral, attracting hundreds of comments and sparking a larger discussion about workplace culture, punctuality and professional respect.
While some praised the candidate for maintaining self-respect, others argued that punctuality is a non-negotiable part of professionalism.
One user wrote: “I guess you are at fault here. If the interview is at 9, you are expected and supposed to join at 8:55 – 8:57. So you can tackle initial issues, it’s common sense.”
Another, however, sided with the candidate, saying, “That’s the spirit. This guy would have made your life miserable if you got selected.”
Some users even shared their own awkward experiences with job interviews. One person recalled, “I remember getting a call from the recruiter once that the director is waiting on the interview bridge for 10 mins while I was talking a nap. I hurriedly got up , changed and joined the call. He just asked why I was 15 mins late for which I apologised and replied that I had an understanding that the call is at 4:30 pm and not 4:00 and the conversation moved on. Eventually I was hired. Bottom line, it all depends on the person on the other side.”
But not everyone sympathised. “Late, disrespectful, wasted the interviewer’s and company’s time and did not get the job. Well done,” another user commented sarcastically.