I had 2 phone screen's and one in person interview with Velma.com.
One of the principles found my resume on Craig's List as I had been contemplating relocating (back to)Boise, Idaho.
Via the phone, I think we were mutually impressed with one another. I was shown a demo, and eventually asked if I would make the trip from the San Francisco Bay area to their office in Nampa, ID at my own expense (just outside of Boise). I assume they were serious about hiring me as we'd already discussed compensation (above what they wanted to pay).
I was wrong,
This is definitely where, for me, at least, alarm bells started going off.
There was:
- No Calendar invite: confirmation of the interview, was via a one word text message (again, I was traveling across multiple states at my own expense to discuss this position).
- No map to their office - which would have been nice considering, they're in a very rural setting literally next to a rodeo/horse arena (not kidding).
Further, their office is a business incubator with at least 5 other very small start ups. I had to google (no address on their website) to find the address, and finally e-mail to find out if my address was correct. Their response: YUP (Literally - after a 10 hour drive - this was all the detail I got about the location and particulars of the interview - very un-impressive).
I interviewed for close to 4 hours with one of the principals and briefly met the founder. I was asked tough questions, easy question, and completely unprofessional questions.
I felt very confident in my answers. I was told at the conclusion of our interview that I was their top candidate and that they expected to move the process forward within the next two weeks. I was also asked to submit work samples, which I was happy to do as I am proud if my work. I was asked to follow up when I returned to the bay area for next steps and to move the process forward.
I followed up, via phone and e-mail. I eventually received an "interesting" initial response from the principal. I was told that he would be out of the office for the remainder of the week and part of the next, (this is interesting because he told me that he had *never* traveled to customer sites, during his 3 years at Velma and he certainly didn't mention being out of the office during our 3+ hour interview just 4 days earlier (a fabrication/stall? Me thinks yes?).
I called and e-mailed upon his return. The response I got, was that they planned to meet another candidate sometime in the next two weeks-but if that didn't pan out, I was still in the running (in reality, at this point I wouldn't have accepted the offer anyway - but I really wanted to turn them down for the above reasons).
I am gob smacked that anyone could be so completely un-professional (clearly not aware where their are sites where candidates can offer feedback).
Interviewing is a mutual process, if my interview was any indication of the professionalism, decorum or class of this organization I would pass them by very quickly. I am sorry that I wasted significant time, energy and $$ to interview with Velma.com. If my candidacy was any indication of the way the handle customer - you need far more than an account manager. Perhaps some training on professional decorum, basic office tools (such as calendar and cut and pasting maps etc). Not to mention human decency, professionalism and follow up.
I understand that their are no guarantee's when you interview, however, the complete lack of professionalism is un-believable in this case (I drove more than 1k miles to interview - no follow up to say we found someone that fits the position better?)
Classless!