04 March, I received an email from a recruiter/HR representative from OCI, who asked if I was interested in being considered for an interview. I replied that day, and then later in the day I spoke with the recruiter on the phone. He explained the details of the company and through that conversation and another within a few days, we agreed that I would come in for an interview for the Junior Editor position.
09 March, I sent an email to the recruiter to clarify what time I would come in for my interview that Friday. I then spoke on the phone with the recruiter that day, and we agreed upon the time.The recruiter told me he would send an email confirmation to me after we got off the phone. However, I did not hear back for some time, and I sent an email to the recruiter later that afternoon confirming the appointment. Through a few exchanges of emails, we finally confirmed the appointment at the above mentioned time and location.
11 March, I went to the interview at the designated time and after filling out an application and waiting until an hour after the scheduled interview time, I spoke with a panel of employees from the communications department.
Between 18 - 23 March, I received a phone call from the company's recruiting manager, asking me to contact her to set up a second interview. I returned her call, left her a message, and then was called back. We set up a time for the second interview - Thursday March 24th, 2011 at 5:00 p.m - and she sent me a confirmation email.
24 March, I went to the second interview - for the Junior Editor position - and spoke with two employees of the department and the director of communications. At the end of the interview, the director verbally offered me the position and said all that was necessary was to send a formal offer letter, which would go through the HR department.
25 March, I was sent a written offer letter by the recruiter. The letter offered me the position of Junior Proposal Writer - not the position of Junior Editor that I had been interviewing for. The letter stated that I had three (presumably business) days to respond to the offer (which would mean a response was necessary by 30 March). The letter, while addressed to me and saved under my name, had a different name at the bottom and under the signature line. Upon reading the letter, I sent an email to the recruiter with some questions that I needed clarified about the change in the offer from the position I'd been interviewing for, etc. The recruiter gave a brief statement about the position, saying I would "basically be doing the same thing" as I would in the Junior Editor position. He sent me another email shortly after with another brief description. He then referred me to the director of communications for any more questions, sending me the director's contact information only after I left the office for the day (and weekend).
28 March, I sent an email to the recruiter regarding some of my questions and clarifications of the offer. I requested that he send me the company's benefits package so I could review it, and he did so.
29 March, I attempted to contact the director of communications without success. I sent an email to the recruiter saying that I was still interested in the position, but that I wanted to talk to the director before making a final decision, and that I would give him a final decision in the next day or two (by Thursday, 31 March), to which he replied "Great thanks!"
At this point, I had many questions for the director about the position. While we'd discussed what the Junior Editor would do while I was interviewing, I was unsure of the job description and official duties of a Junior Proposal Writer. I wanted as much information as possible about the position and about the role of a proposal writer before accepting or declining the offer. I was able to talk to Mr. the director that day, and he answered all the questions I had about the change in the offer, the position itself, and the company. I intimated in the conversation that I would be accepting the position, but told him I would give final word within a day or two.
The office itself was very nice. The people dressed in business-type clothes. Generally the people in the interview were very friendly and nice, and they all seemed to enjoy their position and the growth in the company. It was not until after I was offered the position that I was hesitant. The director of communications did not identify that he was offering me a position that I was not interviewing for when he offered it to me, and so it came as a surprise when I received the offer for a different position. Though the first time I called him with questions about the position he was very helpful and answered them, he never responded to later calls. The recruiter sold the initial position (junior editor) well, but when I followed up with more quesitons, he didn't seem to know much about the new position.