Missed a call from an employer - what now? Somewhat urgent

[AylaM]

So I got a call today from my contact within a company I applied to.  Apparently her boss's boss's boss had called and left a message for me and wondered why I hadn't returned the call.

I looked at the phone and it said nothing about messages.  I dialed in anyways and there were 2 messages that had been sitting there for a week.  Including the call for an interview.  Yikes!

This isn't a common problem, but we had some trouble with the phones last week and I am assuming this is just a bad series of events.

I called him back and got his voicemail.  I left a message and am now awaiting a return call.

I'm feeling like this is a sour note to what looked to be a promising interview.  My question is if you were the big boss what would you want to hear?

Would you want to know that my phone didn't tell me I had messages?  I feel like I'm offering excuses.  Because I could have called my voicemail at anytime and got them listened to them.

Or should I just apologize for the delay and hope that I'm not considered to be too unreliable?

In either case I'd obviously I would also offer an apology in this scenario.  And thank him for following up because I am just so excited about the position.

[DavidH]

I think the best plan is to be honest.  I'd say that your phone didn't show the message and as soon as you knew they were interested you called.  I might add that you are getting a new phone pr having yours fixed, and definitely wouldn't say that you know your phone had been having issues.  The first part says you are dealing with it.  Saying you knew your phone had problems would beg the question of why you didn't do something about it earlier. 

Stuff happens, and employer so unreasonable as to not want to interview you based on this issue may not be one you'd want to work for anyway.

[AylaM]

The problem with the phones was fixed.  I think the messages just got caught up in the mess.  It is honestly rather rare that anyone ever gets to voicemail so my assumption is that he called while we were having problems.  And once it was fixed the phone hardware didn't pick up on the missed calls and messages.

So I can probably just say that "We were having phone problems last week.  It's been repaired, but it appears that your message got caught up in the mess"

And apologize and thank him for calling?

[CakeBeret]

So I can probably just say that "We were having phone problems last week.  It's been repaired, but it appears that your message got caught up in the mess"

And apologize and thank him for calling?

Yep, I think that's the right way to go.

[Outdoor Girl]

I think I would reverse the order.  Apologize for missing his call, thank him for asking your contact to follow up and for returning your call.  Then explain that the phone system wasn't working last week and his call may have been caught up in the mess while the system was being repaired.

[TootsNYC]

If he called back after that, they're definitely interested in you. By reaching out like this, he's indicated that he's willing to overlook the delay, mix-up, etc.

I got a job, after my email had buried the hiring manager's request for me to take a test.

So, you've got the explanation and the apology out there. So now don't really dwell on it--that will remind them too frequently of the problem, when it seems that they are ready to move on.

And this is good:

I think I would reverse the order.  Apologize for missing his call, thank him for asking your contact to follow up and for returning your call.  Then explain that the phone system wasn't working last week and his call may have been caught up in the mess while the system was being repaired.

[learningtofly]

I did this last year.  I somehow turned off the message indicator on my phone and missed the call for an interview and the time she gave me to call back.  Once I got the message I left her a message letting her know that the indicator had been turned off, I had been to the store to get the problem fixed, and that I was very interested in discussing the job with her.  I got the interview.  Wasn't the right job for me, but being honest right off the bat let her know I wasn't ditzy all the time.

[CookieChica]

I would also express how happy you are once you can connect after apologizing as a good way to move past it. "After all that mess, I'm so glad we have the opportunity to talk now!"

[AylaM]

Thanks everyone.  I look back at my original post and it seems so silly now.  But I was freaking out then.

The employer called back and we set up an interview for today.  I apologized yesterday when we spoke and it seems to have been overlooked.  I think the interview went really well (it was one of the best I've had in a while), but now I just have to wait for a response.

And write a follow up/thank you note.