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?
