I applied online. I interviewed at Columbia Distributing Company (Kent, WA) in Feb 2026
Interview
Pros:
The initial interview stages were positive. The early-round interviewers were professional, courteous, and respectful of the scheduled timelines.
Cons:
The entire experience became incredibly unprofessional once the process advanced to the senior leadership level. Having known this company for a long time through current employees and former colleagues, the decline in standards is obvious.
Communication and organization deteriorated completely in the later rounds. Schedules were constantly shifted, follow-ups were non-existent, and the requirements kept changing. Twice, I was informed I was attending a final round, only to be told later that an extra two rounds were being added. The explanation given was that they needed to loop in other executives but couldn't coordinate everyone's calendars. The hiring manager delivered this news both times, which raises questions about who is actually making the hiring decisions if they cannot finalize a choice after multiple conversations.
Furthermore, the compensation offered is well below the market average. The interview structure matched what you would expect for a VP or GM role, but the proposed salary was closer to a district manager level.
Role 1: Went through four interviews over a four-month span, only to be ghosted by a VP with no rejection email or closure.
Role 2: Completed three interviews over five months. The candidate portal still shows a pending interview setup, but a VP has completely ignored all correspondence.
*I know this isn’t unique to me, I’ve heard the same feedback from multiple people within the industry.
Advice to Management:
Ignoring candidate emails is unacceptable for leadership. This company used to maintain high cultural benchmarks. The core value of "zero excuses, 100% accountability" seems to have been abandoned by the current executive team, particularly within the newer divisions.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Standard behavioral and situational questions. Did not require STAR
I applied through a recruiter. I interviewed at Columbia Distributing Company (Oregon City, OR) in Jan 2026
Interview
Standard technical interview, nice people. They wanted to know about my troubleshooting procedures with an emphasis on mobile devices, AD, and Azure. The first interview with the hiring manager was just seeing I was a good fit, and then the final interview was a round robin technical question interview.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
How do you troubleshoot software vs hardware vs network?
I interviewed at Columbia Distributing Company (Canby, OR)
Interview
I was interviewed with multiple people and others going for the same position as I was without being told it was going to be like that. At a second interview I was the only person.