Thursday, August 20, 2015

Bait and Switch?

Bait and Switch






I had a disturbing experience with a company in Manchester that sells new and used office furniture and here’s how it went.

I went to the 1st interview; met the man that would be my Supervisor (older man; Veteran; quietly watches and rarely speaks…goes by the name of Jim). I met the man who will run the interview (30 something; beginning to bald in the front; attractive; obviously a good sales manager and very pro work…goes by the name of Jeff) and he never stops talking. I am not exaggerating when I say he never stopped talking. At first I thought maybe he was nervous but I would later realize he likes the sound of his own voice and he’s a micro-manager….of everything. He begins giving me minute details to every aspect of the job; the company; the process; the goals…well, you get the picture. I let him talk and interjected info about myself and my skills wherever I could fit them in…which was not often and was not as smooth as I would have liked.

Older Vet asks me one question: If I was in a difficult spot would I be reactive or proactive? My first thought is are you kidding me? I looked at him and said well, I’d better be proactive or I won’t get very far….while thinking to myself what is this...a word comprehension test?  Is he serious? What a stupid question!

Interview ends (1 ½ hrs.) and young man says he will call (forgot to mention he took numerous calls during our interview also) to set up the 2nd interview with Carlene and the CEO in a couple of days. Carlene is the woman who currently has the job. I am satisfied (and a little mystified) and leave the un-air-conditioned showroom warehouse where I have been sweating bullets for the past hour. (I was not warned there would be no air-conditioning – and the offices were fully air-conditioned. So why conduct an interview in excessive heat? Clueless? A test? Your guess is as good as mine).

The following week, after not hearing from young man, I call and leave a polite phone message. Thanked him for the interview; hope to hear from him soon, blah, blah, blah…..no response.
The next week I sent one of my polite standard emails (after doing detective work to locate his email because he never gave it to me and it’s not on the company website), still no response.
Third week I sent another (but different) email; still very polite – still no response.

As with other companies, I put them on the back burner; assume they found someone else they liked and go on with my job hunt. I handled this company the same way. I wasn’t entirely convinced I wanted this job to begin with and it’s simply not worth the time and effort unless I’m sure I want it.
Suddenly out of the blue, weeks later, I get a call from Carlene (wicked nice and friendly) – they want to schedule a 2nd interview. Great!  (But what took you so long?)

At the 2nd interview the older Veteran greets me and brings me to a smallish conference room…air-conditioned (I guess I’ve hit the big time now)….although the ac is no longer necessary because we have passed out of the humid heatwave of the earlier interview…and that fact is not lost on me. There is a slight feeling that I have stepped into a B rated movie.

While waiting for Carlene and young man I am able to make friendly conversation with older Vet. He tells me an amusing story of how he hurt his arm, which is bandaged in the middle. I guess he saves the dead-pan attitude and not so swift questions for the first interview.  His piercing blue eyes no longer seem to be silently drilling through me. Now he’s a normal guy and I like him.

Carlene comes in; (black woman; early 40’s perhaps; friendly; outgoing; very competent and straight forward) and I like her immediately – we are clicking like crazy and the interview hasn’t even started. Finally young man arrives and is silent after the greeting, while Carlene takes the lead… Still the CEO is a no show. She asked good questions (not bullshit ones from the internet) and I gave her good answers. She explained the job specifics (nothing I haven’t already heard from young man but with more appropriate detail). I asked pointed questions. My turn to ask questions and I did – of all 3 of them. I could tell they were surprised and impressed by me – I could see it on their faces. Their answers were geared to tell me more about them not so much about the job.

All 3 had answers that told me they are happiest when the job at hand is completed and they get that feeling of accomplishment from it. Only young man was slightly different; he said he’s not so interested in the people side of the job; he’d rather be left alone to get his job done but that’s part of the job (dealing with people). I made light of it and joked that he deals with people all day long. He relaxed; smiled and said he enjoyed selling and got satisfaction from completing a sale but he’s not a people person.

Now it was young man’s turn to ask me some questions most of which were the standard crap from the internet – until he asked what my greatest strength was. I think he thought he was being clever to change the question about the greatest weakness that most places ask. My answer was completely honest and immediate. I read people I say. I read their behavior; body language; eyes and speech. I’ve always done it and it’s automatic with me. (I have never told anyone this outright before but I did write a paper about it for my Psychology class. I have no idea what possessed me to come out with that). Carlene and Older Vet seemed satisfied but perhaps a little surprised by my answer. But young man’s face fell – he momentarily lost his smile and had a slightly worried look on his face. It was fleeting and he recovered his smile (from the floor) quickly but not before I noted it and filed in in my head.

At the very end of the interview young man drops the bomb and probably this was the reason for his worried look. He announces that some aspects of the job have changed and they are as follows:
The job is now salary (at first interview it was hourly)
The job requires 50 hrs. a week (was 40 hrs.)
Some Saturdays are now mandatory (no weekends previously)
Saturdays would be on the showroom floor selling furniture (Surprise! We want you to share our pain so we’re going to make a sales person out of you.)
And I would now be responsible for H.R. issues involving the 3-4 delivery men that work under me. (previously I was only responsible for scheduling deliveries) I would now be in charge of discipline up to firing them – firing would be done with Older Vet. (probably with him starring them to death and asking stupid questions…in other words I’d be doing it with him watching me)
I tried not to show any reaction to this info. I asked a few questions to be sure I got it correct and took notes. The interview ended and I left. By the time I got home there was a message on my answering machine from young man saying he would ‘probably’ be sending me an offer via email and that I should check my email. In truth he had already sent the offer…I found this out later.

I sat down and wrote up my impressions of the interview including a pro’s and con’s list. The only thing in the pro’s list was I need a job…it was all con’s. In fact the more I thought about it the angrier I got. The 2nd interview was a sham in my eyes – the job was no longer the job I had applied for. I was being ‘played’ by young man who is more slick salesman than anything else. I strongly feel that I should have been informed of all these ‘changes’ to the job BEFORE I agreed to the 2nd interview and certainly not at the last minute with a room full of people watching me.

As it happens my wireless modem died before I could even read the offer, which forced me to go to my son’s house to read it. It was a low ball offer with the money as well…especially considering the changes they made to the job. Not having internet service forced me to have to wait to send my email response which is fine for two reasons. They certainly weren’t in a hurry to respond to MY emails (or phone message) and I prefer not to respond to things like this when I’m angry.




I think what young man did was underhanded; unprofessional and rather sleazy but I don’t hate him for it. I think he’s inexperienced and has been pushed up the ladder a little too quickly by people who don’t want to run their own business. (Which would account for why the CEO is a constant no show and Carlene is being pushed up the ladder to be his right hand person because she’s the most competent of them all). It was obvious to me when young man was asking me (stupid internet) questions that he had no real knowledge of why he was doing it. I even asked him how one question relates to the job and he said he didn’t know…he was just asking. (Stupid thing to say in an interview…and this guy is the one in charge of the others. Yikes!).

Even if they changed the job back to its original description I wouldn’t want it. Now that I know how young man operates and that he is pretty much in charge (no guarantee Carlene has any control over him either) I couldn’t work there. I don’t respect or trust him. Besides that the money is not good enough for that level of responsibility and I never EVER said I was willing to do any sales! They are very stingy with their time off; no sick days and raises are based on their idea of production…which I’m sure would not match mine at all. I would be miserable in this job and trapped if I took it as it wouldn’t leave me any time to interview for jobs I actually would want. And then there is school to consider…..how would I even find time to do homework?