Aim to arrive at the building 15–20 minutes early, but walk into the actual interview/check-in area about 10 minutes before your scheduled time.

Quick Scoop

  • For most in‑person interviews, the sweet spot is being 10 minutes early at the reception or check‑in desk.
  • Arriving 20–30+ minutes early can feel awkward for staff and may come off as over‑eager or inconsiderate of their schedule.
  • For virtual interviews, log in about 5 minutes early to test your tech and settle in calmly.

Simple timing rules

  • In‑person interviews:
    • Be on the premises 15–20 minutes early in case of parking, security, elevators, or finding the office.
* Check in at reception about 10 minutes before your scheduled time.
  • Virtual interviews:
    • Open the meeting link and test audio/video 10 minutes before, but actually join the call about 5 minutes early.
  • High‑stakes / panel / executive interviews:
    • Plan enough buffer to be in the building at least 20–30 minutes early because of sign‑in or security, but still approach the desk roughly 10–15 minutes before the actual interview time.

What to avoid

  • Showing up more than 20 minutes early to the front desk and sitting there a long time, which can disrupt the team or feel like you misread the situation.
  • Cutting it too close (arriving right at time or a couple minutes late), which signals poor planning even if traffic or transit really was bad.

Quick example schedule

  • 9:00 a.m. interview time.
  • 8:40–8:45: Aim to arrive at the building/parking.
  • 8:50: Use restroom, review notes, breathe.
  • 8:50–8:52: Walk to reception.
  • 8:50–8:55: Check in so you’re officially “there” about 10 minutes early.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.