I applied online. The process took 1 week. I interviewed at Bonduelle (Strathroy, ON) in Oct 2018
Interview
Applied online on a whim as I have zero experience scheduling but I could quickly learn with training. The HR person called me 2 days later - twice early on a Saturday morning (8am) and emailed me. Called me again Saturday evening. Called me again on Monday. Connected on Monday later in the morning and did a quick phone screen, then set up an interview for the next day. Was told to bring in 3 references. Usually, references are asked for when on a cattle call job fair so I wasn't going to involve any one else until necessary, especially if there's a chance they'll be called at 8am on a Saturday as well.
Went to the interview where I met with the Plant Manager, the HR rep and the Logistics Manager. They had already hired someone to take over the LM's previous position so this job would be reporting to the person who wasn't at the interview because they hadn't started yet. I thought that was strange. I was interviewing with people whom I wouldn't be reporting to, yet they couldn't wait a week until the supervisor started so that they could be part of the hiring process.
It was a 45 min interview, the plant manager seemed really fixated on my lack of scheduling experience (the job also included purchasing and tracking shipments) and I could tell it bothered the PM. I have a post secondary education in a technical area along with an extensive manufacturing background but I got the impression that training wasn't going to be provided, it was jump in and know what you're doing. He started texting towards the end of the interview, so it was obvious the interview was pretty much a dud. The HR rep told me at the end that they're also interviewing internally as well. I think I was there just to round things out. I wasn't asked for my references after all, so that was another clue that I was dismissed before the official word.
Companies need to realize that people they interview are also taking stock of the situation and coming to conclusions about the type of place it is. Texting during interviews and phone calls on the weekends are not professional nor appreciated, it makes the company look like slave drivers not interested in having a work life balance. Not a positive image to project to potential employees. The only good thing is that the HR person was responsive, (must be those 6 day work weeks) got my rejection call also on a Saturday.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What factors do you look for when scheduling a run?