I originally applied for the General Manager position. I was a GM of a similar concept so I thought I had at least a fighting chance at this position. After I applied, I received an email from an area manager requesting I call them to schedule an interview. After I called, I met up with a GM/area manager in a store about 30 minutes from my house. We talked for about 30 minutes and she said I would be better fit for an assistant position because I hadn't quite done everything that is required of a GM at their company. I said ok because she said they fast track you to GM in six months. I should stress, that I have been trying to find a job for a while. I was willing to work for their company for a long period of time in order to advance and Smashburger seemed like they were really into that. I stressed this at the interview that I wanted to stay somewhere for a long time (my resume has some gaps from being in a touring band and trying to run my own business). She said great, Smashburger is looking for people who want to move up and you can move up in about six months to GM and then it is up to you how far you would like to go. I was very excited and left the interview feeling good. I then get an email a few days later asking if I can do an on the job evaluation aka stand around and watch the crew members and another area manager work. This store was an hour from my house in the opposite direction of the first interview. I asked as many questions as I possibly could while the AGM took me on a tour of the store and how everything works. It was almost spot on to the concept I had ran before and they make it easy enough any moron can do it. There is a check list for everything. I am surprised they don't have a checklist for how to take a proper pee in the bathroom. If you can't succeed here you are hopeless. I also stressed to her I am looking for advancement, I am not interested in staying as an assistant manager. She said great! "I will write that in my notes." Verbatim. After standing around for about two hours I said I think I understand what is going on here. She said awesome and I ate a free lunch. I have to say it was very good. She was also an awesome person and both ladies so far were great. About four days later I get another email from the first lady I interviewed with asking if I can interview with her boss, the district manager. I say great yes, no problem! I agree to the date. Then I get another email with a different date and calendar invite scheduled. I emailed late that night to make sure of the correct date and didn't get a response. My mother and I share a car sometimes so since I thought the date had changed, I let her borrow my car the next day. I get a call early in the morning say it is in fact the first day and if that is still ok. No problem I say and my mom takes her lunch break to deliver the car back to me. I drive an hour to Denver again for my corporate interview. At this point, I am no longer nervous but a little bit surprised at how many interviews they are requiring for someone with general manager and 10 years of restaurant experience. It is just a burger place at the end of the day... I interview with the district manager who fit every stereotypical corporate facade you can think of. I should let it be known, I am in general, not a fan of a corporate businesses, but I need to stay with a company for a while and do what I can to work my way up and establish some sort of career and Smashburger seemed like a decent company to do that in. We sat down and the questions began. All of them were typical. "Tell me about yourself?" "How do you handle people that are tardy?" "What is a time when you dealt with an unruly employee?" blah blah blah. I stressed again to this guy that I want to move up. I then received an email stating along the lines of "Thank you for your application and interest. As you can imagine, we receive lots of applications. If we do not follow up with you in two weeks we have selected another candidate. Best of luck on your job search." Wow! Thank you so much! I can sit and twiddle my thumbs for two weeks wondering if I have the job! So after traveling to three different cities, buying new shoes (non-slip shoes required for the on the job evaluation) , and wasting my time I do not have a job offer and I am now filing bankruptcy. But then again, I got a free lunch out of it. Welcome to 2016, where a degree, years of experience and an attitude to work hard and advance gets you literally no where in corporate America. I forgot to mention, my skin is brown if you were curious.