First, I got a call to schedule a phone interview. We set that up. On the day of, I was prepared and ready to go about ten minutes before out scheduled time. She called about ten minutes late. Other than that, it was pretty easy. They reconfirm that you have a driver's license, can work in the US and are ok with 48+ hours a week and a crappy salary. She asked maybe 5-6 questions about past experiences. "Explain a time when you had to do something extra for a customer." "Tell me about a time when you were successful." That sort of thing. I "passed" and we set up a one-on-one interview in her office. This is when I learned that her office was 2+ hours away from the town I live in (and where the job I was applying for would have been). I decided to go anyway, even though I was not SO excited about the job.
I drove two hours in crappy weather. I was ten minutes early and then she made me sit in a really crappy/rundown/cheap looking reception area for about half an hour or more. There was no clock, but it was definitely well after our scheduled interview time. Again, it was pretty easy. She was really friendly and honest. More of the same types of questions, with more sort of "oh, you were really busy in college, huh? Didn't you get stressed out?!" I thought I did really well. We talked a little bit about the hours because I have a baby, and she said there was another option. There is a position called "CAR" (Customer Assistance Representative or something) that is forty hours a week. She said she'd like to move me forward in the interview process, but that I should think about what I want to do. She gave me the name of the manager at the store where I would actually have been working and told me to get in touch with her. This was Monday, she told me to call her back on Wednesday if I was still interested. She said that her cell phone and email were the best ways to get in touch with her.
I called the store in my town, but the manager was at a different store for the day. I called the store she was at and talked to her for a little bit. She seemed really busy and kept putting me on hold, but seemed sweet and friendly. She seemed to like me, too, and seemed fine with doing the CAR position rather than the manager training. I called the recruiting manager back on Wednesday, midday. I left her a message, since she didn't answer. I didn't hear back, so I called again in the afternoon, a few minutes before five and left another message. On Friday I sent her an email. I still had not heard anything back on like Wednesday of the following week and called and left another message. I still didn't hear anything back for another few days. Sometime in the middle of the third week I got a random, REALLY poorly written email. We are talking misspelled words and incoherent sentences! Part of it seemed form and part personal, but just sloppy and totally careless. Anyway, she basically said that "due to circumstance in the region and the weather" that she was unable to get back to me and the had already hired someone else, who they apparently WERE able to "get back to".
That's the part that really got me. How can someone who can't write a complete, coherent, properly spelled sentence have this sort of job and I have been job hunting for four months!? Also, we live in New England! The weather is never an excuse for anything.
Anyway, I was definitely not impressed and will probably be happier somewhere else, when I find something.