We’re early in the new year but it isn’t too early to work on a few new year’s resolutions and get them out of the way before they are long forgotten.

One of my biggest pet peeves is timeliness. Specifically, I can’t stand when people are late.

If tardiness is a problem for you or even if time management is one of your strengths, it probably isn’t a bad idea to think about not only how you present to others in terms of timeliness but how they do the same for you.

Are you habitually late when you’re meeting with others?

Do friends and people in your life typically show up late when meeting with me?

As a kid, my family knew another family that we saw several times per year and they were always late when visiting us. We’re talking 1 hour late every single time they’d come over to our place. It got to the point where if they were supposed to be at our house by 2pm, we knew they wouldn’t arrive until after 3pm.

My parents never said anything because they were friends but on the occasion where we were going out with them to a restaurant for example we were always unsure as to what time to make a booking given how late they were going to be.

In a work setting – whether in your job or during an interview for an example – being late is probably going to cost you even if you don’t realize it.

If you show up late to work continuously you’re eventually going to be known as the person who is always late and that will possibly lead to the rumor that you’re also unreliable since you if you can’t even show up on time, how can you be counted upon to do anything else? I recall quite a few people I worked with who were always associated with being late because….well, they were always late.

In a job interview situation, if you show up late, that’s pretty much strike 1, 2 and 3 in the eyes of some hiring managers right off the bat. As mentioned above, if you show up late to an interview, you’ll probably be remembered as “the guy who showed up late” without any good reason.

If that’s the case, I’m guessing you aren’t getting the job even if the interviewer doesn’t say so. Interviewers also tend not to tell you on the way out of the interview that you’re not getting the job either, so even though they don’t say it’s a big deal when you’re late, chances are it is.

The rule of the day relates to no showing an interview, showing up late, and excuses that people give to justify it.

I was kidnapped by aliens.

My car tires were flat, too.

Then I missed the bus.

The dog ate my homework, too.

Fortunately, I haven’t heard any of these excuses for not showing up at an interview (no showing) or being late for one – and I’ve never had to use one myself – but if the excuses given above sounds pretty unbelievable when you read them, remember that they sound even more unbelievable when you try to use them or ones like them and think that someone will believe it.

We already talked about timeliness and not being late but we know that sometimes it does happen and we can’t do anything about it. The question is what do you do about it?

This morning, I was 30 minutes late for a doctor’s appointment but I didn’t care because he’s never on time and I knew it wouldn’t matter. Sure enough, the doc was 35 minutes late so he actually got to the office after I did.

But in an interview – whether with a recruiter or hiring manager – showing up late or not at all just doesn’t cut it.

I’ve only had a small number of cases where a person no shows an interview with me and I can only recall one case where a candidate of mine no showed an interview with one of my clients – although he did have a good excuse and the client was ok to reschedule it.

But I do know of recruiters who have had people simply not show up at a job interview and they never hear from the person again. Weird. Talk about unprofessional.

Bottom line: Plan ahead and show up on time. In the case where you can’t make it on time and know you’re going to be late, make sure you’ve planned ahead. Have your cellphone handy and charged up, and bring the phone number of the person you meeting with so you can call them and let me know before you’re late.

When a person no shows an interview with no legitimate reason, I stop working with them. If they show up late and don’t seem to care, I don’t care either and won’t work with them. If they call ahead and let me know they’re running late, at least I know they’re trying.

It’s not as good as being on time, but it’s better than nothing.