Lots of disconnects and unprofessional interview tendencies among the organization.
I applied for both a management and supervisory role to feel out my options. Both were in the customer service department.
I received a request for a phone interview for the supervisor position within a few days.
During the phone interview I was very upfront with the recruiter about pay. The supervisory role was a large pay cut. I asked about the opportunity to interview for the manager role instead, since my experience was more aligned with that function. I was very clear that I did not want to proceed with a supervisory title when the recruiter asked if it was a deal breaker.
The recruiter cut the interview short at that point and said she would look into my request.
I received another email requesting to schedule another interview. I accepted. The day of, it was canceled a few minutes before. I was forced reschedule. The company interested me so I proceeded. Things happen!
The next interview was a zoom with the customer service manager who asked very good questions about experience, system knowledge, and leadership style. Mind you I assumed the recruiter forwarded the message about the management role. This interview went well and I was invited on site.
The same manager walked me through the office which was beautiful and led me to a room to speak with another higher up.
When the higher up and I started speaking I immediately found out he was not given the info about my decline to move forward with supervisor role. He kept asking questions related to the supervisor position. I stayed to discover more about the opportunity and other compensation options since I was already there.
From here, other supervisors came in and spoke with me. First two. Then 3 others. It was very informal which is fine. However, the knowledge of interview questions or appropriate commentary was EXTREMELY lacking.
One of the supervisors commented on the way I dressed saying that I looked more ‘corporate’ than how the office culture was. This same person also made backhanded comments about my body modifications saying things such as “I … like tattoos but would rather spend my money on something else.”
One of the supervisors (I can’t be sure of which) out right asked me how I’d handle disciplinary action KNOWING that the company didn’t really follow through on disciplinary action and just issued a lot of warnings. I was honestly astonished.
By that point I was over 3 HOURS IN! and absolutely turned off. Not only to the position, but the company as well.
The comments about my appearance did it for me. If I thought the supervisor was more experienced, I would have probably filed a complaint. But she was clearly inexperienced and put into a position to learn how to handle interviews on the fly. Likely having someone randomly pulling her from the floor to interview me on a whim.
All in all I’m very happy I decided to accept a new management role at my current company.