How to reply to an interview invitation
Confirm an interview time or send your availability. Copy a short reply with the date, time zone and one useful question.
Ghosted editorialPublished 10 min read
On this page
- They offered a time
- They asked when you’re free
- If they sent a booking link
- What your reply has to do
- Five details to check before you say yes
- Write the time so nobody can misread it
- Reply the same working day if you can
- Five more replies you can copy
- Four things to settle first
- The mistakes that cost a slot
- A checklist before you send
- Once the time is confirmed
- Questions people ask about replying to an interview invitation
The reply
They offered a time
Reply in their thread:
SubjectRe: their thread
Hi Jo,
Tuesday 12 May at 10:00 London time works for me. I’m looking forward to talking about the Support Engineer role. Will we use the link in the invite?
Thanks, Alex
Three things: yes to the time they offered, the time said back with its zone, and one question that settles how you’ll meet. Nothing else is needed.
Answer the question first
If their email asks “Does Tuesday at 10:00 work?”, your first line says yes or no. Thanks and enthusiasm can follow; the answer shouldn’t wait behind them.
Giving times
They asked when you’re free
SubjectRe: their thread
Hi Jo,
Thanks for the invite. I can do Tuesday 12 May between 10:00 and 12:00, or Wednesday 13 May between 14:00 and 16:00. Both are London time. Does either window work for you?
Alex
Two windows, on different days, each a couple of hours wide. That’s enough room to fit you around the interviewer’s diary, and few enough that you can keep both free until they answer. Offer a window only if you could be there for all of it.
Booking links
If they sent a booking link
Choose a slot there and check the confirmation. If the email and invite show different times, send one question before you block out the hour: “I see 10:00 in your email and 11:00 in the invite. Which time should I use?”
Then reply to their email in one line: “I’ve booked Tuesday 12 May at 10:00 through your link.” A booking page tells their calendar; a reply tells the person who invited you.
Start here
What your reply has to do
An interview invitation is a scheduling question with good news attached. The good news doesn’t need much of an answer. The scheduling question does, and the reply that settles it fastest helps everyone most.
Answer what they asked
If they offered a time, accept it or say it doesn’t work. If they asked for availability, give it. If they sent a link, book. Lead with that.
Say the details back
Day, date, time and time zone, in your own words: “Tuesday 12 May at 10:00 London time.” If either of you misread something, this is where it shows.
Ask for what’s missing
One question for the one detail you still need: the link, the address, who you’ll meet. If you have everything, leave it out.
That’s three or four lines. The person scheduling you is usually juggling several candidates and several diaries. A reply they can act on without reading twice is the one that gets a calendar invite back first.
Read the invite
Five details to check before you say yes
Invitations leave things out, especially ones written in a hurry. Before you reply, make sure you know each of these. Whatever’s missing becomes your one question.
The day and the date
“Tuesday 12 May” should be a Tuesday. If the day and the date don’t match, ask which one they meant.
The time and its time zone
A time with no zone is a guess. Say it back with the zone you think they mean, and let them correct you.
How you’ll meet
Video, phone or in person. For video, which link; for a phone call, who rings whom; in person, the address and who to ask for.
Who you’ll meet
A name and a role tell you what to prepare. A recruiter’s screening call and a technical round are different conversations.
How long it lasts, and what to bring
Half an hour and an afternoon of interviews need different plans. If there’s an exercise or a portfolio to show, you want to know now.
Time zones
Write the time so nobody can misread it
When the job is remote, the person interviewing you may be hours away, and a time that’s clear in your head can be ambiguous in an email. Turning up an hour late because of a time zone is still turning up late. Three habits remove most of the risk.
Name a city, not an abbreviation
“10:00 London time” is right all year. “GMT” is wrong for London in summer, when the clocks are on BST, and “IST” can mean India, Ireland or Israel.
Put the day and the date together
“Tuesday 12 May” catches a mistake that “Tuesday” or “12/5” won’t. In the US, 12/5 is the fifth of December.
Give both times when you’re in different zones
“15:00 London time, which is 10:00 for you in New York.” If you’ve got the gap wrong, they’ll tell you before the day, not on it.
| Easy to misread | Clear |
|---|---|
| Tuesday at 10 | Tuesday 12 May at 10:00 London time |
| 10am EST | 10:00 New York time |
| 12/5, 3pm | Tuesday 12 May, 15:00 London time |
| Next Wednesday afternoon | Wednesday 13 May, between 14:00 and 16:00 London time |
29%
Arriving too late came second among the mistakes that most hurt an applicant’s chances, cited by 29% of the 300 hiring managers in Robert Half’s Australian survey. Only not researching the company was cited more often.
Source: Robert Half, survey of 300 Australian hiring managers, 2022
Timing
Reply the same working day if you can
Hiring already takes weeks, and every day a slot waits for an answer adds to it. Invitations often go to several candidates at once, and the first replies get the first slots. A reply that waits two days can find the time gone and push your round back a week.
If you can’t confirm yet, because you need to check with work or arrange childcare, say so and give a time you’ll come back by. It keeps your place without promising a slot you might not keep.
SubjectRe: their thread
Hi Jo,
Thanks for the invite, I’m looking forward to it. I need to check one thing at work before I confirm a time. I’ll come back to you by noon tomorrow.
Alex
23.7 days
The average length of an interview process in Glassdoor’s study of interview reviews from 25 countries, shared in the first half of 2017. It runs from sending an application to an offer or a rejection.
Source: Staffing Industry Analysts, on Glassdoor’s 2017 study
Other situations
Five more replies you can copy
Same shape each time: the answer first, the details said back, one question if you need it. All but the last are replies in their thread.
SubjectRe: their thread
Hi Jo,
Thanks for the invite. I can’t make Tuesday at 10:00, but I could do Tuesday 12 May between 14:00 and 16:00, or Wednesday 13 May between 10:00 and 12:00. Both are London time. Would either of those suit you?
Alex
SubjectRe: their thread
Hi Jo,
Thursday 14 May at 11:00 London time works for me. Will you call me on the number on my CV, or is there a number I should dial?
Thanks, Alex
SubjectRe: their thread
Hi Jo,
Wednesday 13 May at 14:00 works for me. Could you confirm the address, and who I should ask for when I arrive?
Thanks, Alex
SubjectRe: their thread
Hi Jo,
Thursday 14 May from 10:00 to 13:00 London time works for me. Could you tell me who I’ll be meeting in each session, so I can prepare for each conversation?
Thanks, Alex
SubjectConfirming our interview on Tuesday 12 May
Hi Jo,
Thanks for the call earlier. Just to confirm what we agreed: Tuesday 12 May at 10:00 London time, on a video call. I’ll look out for the invite.
Thanks, Alex
Before you reply
Four things to settle first
Whether you want this interview
Usually, yes. But if you’ve accepted another offer or gone off the role, say so now rather than booking a slot you’ll cancel. The withdrawal email has the words.
Which times you can actually keep
Check your work diary, your commute and anything you’d have to move. Offer only times you could still make if they picked either one.
Where you’ll take the call
A video interview needs a quiet room and a signal for the whole slot. Straight after a work meeting, from a café, from a parked car: each is a risk you can choose to avoid.
How it fits around your current job
An early slot, a late one or a lunch hour can save you explaining an absence. If one of those would help, ask for it in your reply.
What goes wrong
The mistakes that cost a slot
Burying the answer
Two paragraphs on why you’re excited, and the time somewhere near the bottom. Put the answer in the first line.
“Any time next week works”
It sounds flexible. It hands them the work of choosing, and it commits you to times you haven’t checked.
A time with no zone
Especially when the job is remote. Say the zone every time you write a time, even when it feels obvious.
A new email instead of a reply
A fresh subject line separates your answer from their invitation, and the person scheduling you has to match them up. Reply in their thread.
Clicking Accept and nothing else
Accepting the calendar invite tells their calendar, not necessarily the person. If their email asked a question, the button doesn’t answer it.
Last look
A checklist before you send
After you reply
Once the time is confirmed
When the calendar invite arrives, check it against the email: the day, the time, the zone and the link. If they don’t match, ask which is right. Then make sure it’s in your own calendar in your time zone, with the link in the event, so it’s one click on the day.
Prep comes next. The one-page interview prep sheet keeps the meeting details, your best example and your question together. If the time stops working later, here’s how to reschedule a job interview.
Questions
Questions people ask about replying to an interview invitation
How quickly should I reply to an interview invitation?
The same working day if you can. Slots often go to whoever answers first. If you need longer to check something, reply now to say when you’ll confirm.
Do I need to reply if they sent a calendar invite?
Yes, if their email asked a question or you’re missing a detail. Accepting the invite updates their calendar, but it can’t ask where to go or who you’ll meet.
Is it OK to ask for a different time?
Yes. Say the time doesn’t work and give two windows that do. Moving a slot is routine; a vague answer is what makes it slow.
What if they don’t say which time zone?
Say the time back with the zone you think they mean: “10:00 London time, I assume?” It takes one line, and it settles it before the day.
Should I thank them in my reply?
A short thanks is polite and enough: “Thanks for the invite.” Save the longer enthusiasm for the interview itself.
Can I ask who will interview me?
Yes. It’s a normal question, and the answer helps you prepare. Ask it in your reply if the invitation doesn’t say.
What if they don’t confirm the time I picked?
If a working day or two passes, reply in the same thread: “Just checking Tuesday at 10:00 is still on.” Don’t treat a time as booked until they confirm it.
Said yes? Keep the time with the job.
Keep each interview with its job: the time in their zone and yours, the link and your notes.