Worst job interview ever.

[SirFozzie]

Well, yours truly is continuing his attempts to get back into the workforce, and I really thought that today was going to be the day. I had interviewed with this logistics company on Saturday and they had let me know what the position would be, well within my skillset, in a callcenter enviroment. They wanted me in at 8 today for the 2nd interview, and if all went well, I'd begin working tommorrow.

Well, I wake up at 6 (it's about a half hour drive to get their normally, nevermind in early morning traffic) and get there in the proper amount of time. It happens to go downhill from there.

I interview with two folks, taking up about an hour or so, answering the questions about past jobs, when they hit me with the first whammy... the "job shift".

They tell me that the position as described to me on saturday's interview was "incomplete" That the position they are hiring for is not just a customer service position, but also an inventory control specialist, someone who walks the warehouse and audits the items entering and leaving the building to make sure there's no slippage. This is a huge strike against it, as I'm not a big fan of warehouse work. He goes on and on about how they pay attention to detail, because a slip up could mean that they ship the wrong TV, costing the company thousands of dollars (you know those ultra swanky TV's you see at Best Buy? This place is the place that delivers them)

So I'm already on the edge of putting the whole interview in the "waste of time" position, as the 2nd guy finishes up (remember, we're pushing an hour-hour and a half here already). He lets me know that the guy who runs the side of the company I'd be working for, will be with me in a few minutes, that he's just finishing up a interview and shuts the door to the conference room.

I wait.




I wait some more



I wait even more



I wait TOO DANG LONG.

An HOUR and twenty minutes later, I finally get tired of re-reading my resume and staring outside at the rain, and go find the 2nd guy I interviewed with. The look on his face is priceless. "Oh my god, I thought I heard Rich out there, I assumed he interviewed you and you had already left." He calls Rich using the "walkie-talkie" function and asks the guy what's going on, and the guy says "Oh, sorry.. forgot.. can the guy wait longer, I'm in the middle of something here"

At this point, amazement and anger are warring in equal measure. The guy who I'm talking to (he's the general manager of the company) pretty much feels the same way, as he says to me. "Listen, I'm sorry you waited all this time. Why don't you head on out, I'll make the decision and let you know by the end of the day."

So, steaming mad that I wasted roughly an HOUR AND A HALF, already mad that they tried to pull a job shift on me, I call the temp agency that set this up, and let them know what happened and that quite frankly, I would prefer it if they removed my name from consideration for this job.

Now normally, that would be the end, but I went out for a bit earlier to relax, and when I got home, there was a message on the answering machine to call the temp agency..

The temp agency guy says he called and read the riot act to them (and they admitted they deserved it), but they love my assertiveness, and he wants to check to see if I still want to remove my name from consideration, as they still rate me very highly.

Oi!

I need work.. but I don't need work THAT bad.

[GrantDawg]

In this job market? TAKE THE JOB!!!!

[Anrhydeddu]

Troy would love to have it, if it wasn't so far away.

[SirFozzie]

Basically it was them being two-faced, switching the job to something I'd go crazy at (four hours of walking down a warehouse line saying "yup, ok, we still have 6 washer dryer sets" and four hours calling folks letting them know when things are getting dropped off) and then to say "we demand attention to detail" and then forgetting the small detail of letting me know someone's either busy or delayed for over an hour.

So, I save myself being on the front page of the newspapers, and/or a mental breakdown.

:)

[sachmo71]

I respect your decision, SirFozzie! I would think that the situation that you found yourself in speaks volumes about the company itself.

[ISiddiqui]

Yeah, smart decision. You don't want to be working for a company like that!

[kcchief19]

It's a tough market, but I've learned that running away from a job offer you have a bad feeling about is a good call. I took a job with a marketing company that did a similar job bait-and-switch only to find out that it was a pyramid marketing scheme. I went home for lunch during the second week and called to tell them I wasn't coming back.

The last time I was out of work after the department I was in was cut, I interviewed for a job with another company doing the exact same job for even less money. I went through the interview and realized that I was the front-runner for the job, but I didn't want it. It was a good decision because the job I ended up getting was (and is) a great job.

Good luck, Fozzie!

[vtbub]

Smart move.

[WussGawd]

Originally posted by kcchief19
It's a tough market, but I've learned that running away from a job offer you have a bad feeling about is a good call. I took a job with a marketing company that did a similar job bait-and-switch only to find out that it was a pyramid marketing scheme. I went home for lunch during the second week and called to tell them I wasn't coming back.

The last time I was out of work after the department I was in was cut, I interviewed for a job with another company doing the exact same job for even less money. I went through the interview and realized that I was the front-runner for the job, but I didn't want it. It was a good decision because the job I ended up getting was (and is) a great job.

Good luck, Fozzie!

I concur. Don't panic and jump into a bad job unless you are literally down to your last dollar. It is actually much easier to find a job when you aren't already working one, and it's much easier to explain your current situation than it would be to explain why you were leaving this job in three to four months if it didn't work out.

[neofied]

Nothing wrong with not taking a job even if its offered. I had an interview recently. The guy offered me a nice job and everything, but I was apprehensive. He wasn't flexible about some pending vacation plans in the next few weeks after the interview (which, I don't think would have hurt anything) and about giving me an extra 50 cents or so an hour.

I turned down the offer. Sure its the only offer I've been given recently, but so be it.

The job you turned down actually sounds like fun. Mind filling me in on where it's at? :D

Actually, I'm in the process of applying as a subsitute teacher. Have all the papers filled out, transcripts ordered, tests passed. All that's needed now is a brief interview, some fingerprinting, a background check, a TB screening, and a few other small things and I'll be set, just in time for the new school year.

Woohoo!!! If you've got a four-year degree, I'd highly recommend looking into it. I'm really looking forward to it.

[SirFozzie]

Neofied: Mansfield, MA.

I think one of the reasons I went ranty ravey over this was.. I was ready to get back in the work force. Having free time is NICE.. but.. eh.. this looked great then..

BOOM.

Got dropped on my head. :)

[AZSpeechCoach]

Neofied...I'll be praying for you. I subbed for 6 months. I nearly lost my mind. Ever since then, I've been VERY conscious about how I plan for my own "guest teachers."

Fozzie, you did the right thing. My wife was in a similar situation last year. She was laid off from her job as a trainer in a large hotel reservations call-center. The travel was great, she had set up a call center in Canada for this company, but her floor manager was a major bitch. When they let her go, it was a relief. After a couple of months of unemployment, my wife got an interview with a health care company looking to set up their own call-center in Phoenix. They loved her resume and portfolio. A few weeks later, she came in and met with the training supervisor. They hit it off wonderfully. They were arranging office furniture together. Then. . . nothing for 3 weeks. My wife had her head-hunter call the company. The only response was that she was too negative in her interviews for saying that she "learned from (her) mistakes, and didn't make the same error twice." WTF? Learning is bad? Anyway, another week goes by, and she hears nothing, until the head-hunter calls up on a Monday with the news that they want my wife after all (even if she is only human). Tuesday morning, the head-hunter calls with the news that they now want her to take a phone interview that "was just a formality." By noon on Tuesday, the call hadn't come. By 3:00 that afternoon, they didn't want her anymore. At that point, my wife washed her hands of the company and found a job at a bank. Worse hours, low pay, but nice people and low stress. Thank god I have guaranteed job security. Let the debate about all the bad teachers begin anew.

Kevin

[tucker342]

Good idea to drop the company

[Hammer755]

My advice would be to keep the door open, even if you don't want to work for the company. Just because you leave your name in for consideration doesn't mean you have to accept an offer if it is forthcoming.

[Eilim]

Mansfield,MA? Good thing you turned it down SirFozzie, anything having to do with that town is just evvviiiiiilll.

[SirFozzie]

Not as bad as Foxboro (being from Franklin, and having been heavily involved with FHS athletics, the Hornets and the Warriors are equally EEEEEvul ;)

[Eilim]

Heheh.. I wholeheartedly agree with you on that one, the one saving grace of living in this hell-hole of a town is I can hear my beloved Patriots games right from my computer room.

I actually spent most of my life living in Attleboro but ended up for some god forsaken reason bouncing between Mansfield and Foxboro the past 10 years. Gotta love towns where every truck has a gun rack and public drunkeness is a favorite passtime.

[Balldog]

If your that unhappy after an interview just think how unhappy you would be after 6 months working there.