I have some good interviews, even some great interviews, and a few wtf? kinda interviews…but there is only one interview from the flaming pits of hell that I’ve had. And I’m not sure why—but I thought it would be a fun (in hindsight only) one to share with you.
Let me set the stage. My business was slowly dying—because of corporate greed and the economy tanking. I was a 40/60 business partner and when we got to the point where it was just he and I working the business (we had to lay off 8 people) I knew I needed to get out of that business partnership. It was just time to move on.
I found a company here in Columbus that was hiring for a Director of Operations position, but their corporate headquarters were in Iowa. I called the corporate headquarters to this company, because I knew some operations people that worked in the Iowa branch. They told me exactly who this “Dave” was that I would be emailing my resume to and one of the managers said to use him as a reference. PERFECT. So I emailed Dave my resume and short introduction, mentioned I knew some of the operations people and one said they would put in a good word for me. Sure enough the call came in that very afternoon, and I was really excited.
Dave was the head of HR for the entire company, but since he was in Iowa and I was in Columbus, he three-wayed a phone call into the Vice President of Columbus Operations, the person I would interview with and hopefully work directly for. Mike, Dave and I had a 15 minute conversation, setting up the interview for that Friday at 10:00am. Two things happened at this point. Dave sent me another email with the company’s mission statement, the expectations the company had for the position of Director of Operations, and pointed out some very “impressive” things he saw on my resume. He confided in me that up to that point they had not had another qualified lead for the Director of Operations position, and wished he could personally fly to Columbus to meet with me when I went to meet with Mike that Friday, but he told me that he would be in the following week at some point and if Mike had good things to say, he would definitely make sure he got to meet me. Talk about feeling confident before the interview actually began!!
If that wasn’t enough to inflate my ego—then the email I received from Mike the next day sure did it. He too had combed through my resume, spoke to several of my qualifications and references, and was very much looking forward to our interview. His words—not mine. His email said he looked forward to a positive and hopefully fruitful meeting that Friday morning, as they were long overdue to fill the position. Needless to say, I was really excited.
There were two problems I saw going in. Money was tight—as my business was barely paying for itself. And I did not own a summer business suit. I wanted to dress to impress—and I knew it was going to be tight on my penny-pinching budget to afford the suit—let alone a desperately long over due hair cut. I had no money coming in at that point and no idea how I was going to manage. I dove into my last $90.00 and I was ready for that day to come.
It started out like any other Friday. I was really excited. I took my time—made sure I was presentable. I felt really good walking out the door. I made sure I had extra copies of my resume, references and copies of all the emails that transpired between Dave from Iowa and Mike the Vice President here in Columbus. I arrived 10 minutes early, and said a little prayer before walking in the front door 5 minutes before interview time.
I walked in the building and introduced myself to the receptionist—explaining I was there for a 10:00am interview with Mike and she looked at me rather puzzled. “Mike doesn’t have any interviews scheduled for today.” I politely explained that I spoke to both Dave and Mike on the phone and showed her the copies of the emails. Totally puzzled, she apologized and said they must have forgotten to tell her. She walks around the corner and came back and sat down and asked me to have a seat. No big deal, I thought, it would all work out.
Except I sat there for 45 minutes past my scheduled interview time. Finally a short little guy came around the corner and introduced himself as Todd. Okay—perhaps Mike was tied up, I’ve been there no problem.
Todd pulls me into an empty office and starts talking and talking and talking and talking and talking about his position as Assistant Manager to Operations—and the shifts and positions that were open in operations. I quickly figured out that he had no idea why I was there or for which position I was applying. Then he looked at my resume and quickly said, “Oh by the looks of things, you’ve primarily been in management. Are you sure you want to step down a few notches on the pay scale for an operations job?”
Flabergasted, I explained, very kindly I was supposed to have met with Mike to interview for the Director of Operations position. As soon as I mentioned this to him, his face fell flat, the color drained out and he looked like he was going to toss his cookies. He somehow recovered after an eternity and said, “I’m really sorry, but I have no idea why they sent you to me, that position is supposed to be done by someone way above me.” He stood up, asked me to wait and left the room. I sat there for another 38 minutes before the receptionist walked in the vacant office, expecting to eat her lunch in there.
“Oh I didn’t realize you were still here.” she chimed in her bubbly little receptionist voice. “Who are you waiting for?”
I explained that I was there to meet with Mike. I reminded her that I showed her that email I printed out when I arrived. I reminded her that she went to fetch Mike and then came back and asked me to wait, which I did for 45 minutes, to be interviewed not by Mike but Todd who left me hanging in the office when he discovered I was supposed to be interviewed for a Director of Operations position—which he didn’t seem to take too well. He left me to sit in the vacant office and then she walked in after 38 minutes. I had no idea what to expect next, but I mentioned that if I was going to have to wait any longer, I really needed to reschedule. She promised she would return right away.
That “right away” turned into about 15 minutes. Then she came back and said no one had seen Todd since he left to come interview me—he must have gone to lunch as his car was no longer in the parking lot. Mike was not available to interview me because he decided to take a client to the golf course that day. So much for my interview, I guess.
I just stood up, grabbed my things, furious at the whole situation and all that time wasted and so upset I cried my heart out all the way home. Awaiting me was a husband who was eager to hear I had a new job—and when I related the whole sordid tale to him he just couldn’t believe it. I was so upset they had wasted the better half of my day on some sort of farce, and I was doubly upset because I value my time. Time is money and time is a precious commodity. Not to mention that I drained the last of my savings to buy that business outfit and hair cut. I was just so beside myself. I decided at that point, I would write a very candid email to Dave in Iowa.
I received a very concerning phone call from Dave within minutes of sending that email. He was so sorry that someone from his company would waste my time so rudely. He said that he didn’t want to lose me as a viable candidate. Sorry Dave, I guess it just wasn’t meant to be. Then I received an apology letter from both Dave in Iowa and Mike in Columbus, not emailed but actually mailed via post to my house. All was forgiven and I really appreciated the gesture—but I learned something from the fiasco that day. If they did not value my time while not under their employ, they would not value my time while employed. I passed up a second chance opportunity to interview there.
And that was my interview from the lake of fire.
Have you ever had an interview go terribly awry through no fault of your own?
Have you ever given an interview that was just really out there?
If you have an interview story to share—feel free to join The Writers’ Post weekly blog hop and join in on this week’s topic: Interview!!
Cheers,
