Interviews and Slaloming through the Red Flags

[RoxaneB]

I had an interview today for a Quality Assurance System Manager position with a company on the other side of the city where I live. To put it in perspective, with no rush hour traffic, 40 minute drive....with rush hour traffic, probably 1.5-2 hours each way, depending on accidents.

Here is what I knew about the company as walked in the front doors...Japanese-owned automotive supplier. That was it. And not for a lack of trying on my part.

Going in to the interview, I had three red flags in my head:

1. They communicated with me via email only - my guess was language issues.
2. When I accepted the interview and asked with whom I would be meeting, I was provided with 3 titles...no names.
3. Upon doing an online search for the company, I found plenty on the parent company and ALL that they do (various automotive components), but nothing on this particular site.

Smile on, I entered the building 10 minutes before my interview was to start...not too early, not too late...and giving me enough time to scope out the visual cues in the lobby (i.e., get a sense of the culture, check out their policy(s), etc.).

1.5 hours later, I left the building and was nearly shaking my head in disbelief. More red flags!!!

1. As directed, I informed the receptionist who I was and that I had a 1100 meeting with the plant manager...no one seemed to know who I was asking for.
2. I was then handed a piece of paper that asked me to repeat my resume but add some new information such as "How did I get to the address" and "How long did it take me"....?????
3. They were 20 minutes late. No one provided updates on the delay or the status of the people I was to meet. I was just told "Sit there."
4. I was informed that the Engineering Manager had returned to China for an indefinite amount of time. That doesn't sound promising.
5. I was informed that much of their business has relocated to Mexico...again, lack of promise here.
6. I was told by the Plant Manager - who had my resume in front of him - that it appeared I had "moved around a lot both with companies and with responsibilites." ??? 10 years with the same company in 2 roles that were identical but for a change in focus (one plant verusus all of North America) sounds fairly stable to me! Plus, I started off with ISO 9001 and have evolved to INCLUDE concepts such as 5S, Failure Analysis, Lean, Kaizen, etc.
7. They asked what my salary expectations were but said they did not know what the salary range was for the position.
8. I was informed that they'd get back to me at some point. I pressed them on this and finally they said "Oh, 2-3 weeks maybe."
9. Should I make it to the next level, I will meet with, to quote the Plant Manager, "...He's high up in Quality in Japan, but he's over here for some reason and doing something."
10. No English was spoken in the office - at least none that I overheard while I was waiting for 30 minutes.
11. Of the 3 people interviewing me, only 2 were fully engaged, until the very end when the 3rd person looked up from his doodling and asked for my salary...and he wasn't even the HR person in the room!
12. The plant manager is the acting Quality Manager and when I smiled, asking if he was eager to to wear one less hat, he said, "I'll never give it up."

Honestly, I'm laughing at this whole fiasco of an interview process. I have a funny feeling that this position would be quite the challenge, which I am okay with, but I also feel that there is not much in the way of resources or management support. That alone makes me wonder, should they call me back, whether or not I will go.

Just my humourous anecdote from today's interview. I went for the practice...glad I went...but wow, what an experience, to say the least!

 

[howste]

Run Forrest, Run!

 

[Wes Bucey]

Wow! A truly horrendous experience.

Back in the early 90s, a mid-level executive from one of our customers made a jump to a foreign-owned/operated company a lot closer to his home in Southern California. Same job title, but a miniscule increase in wage.

He invited us (my partner and me) to visit and take a tour to determine if we could help his new company as well as we had his old.

Needless to say after your experience, the culture shock was huge! Everyone from the Plant manager/director to the janitor, male and female, wore the identical costume - khakis and same color knit polo shirts with company logo. Almost all production workers were (as far as we could tell) U.S. citizens of varied ethnic background. All the executives (based on where they sat or worked, not costume) were from the home country and spoke almost unintelligible English. The front lobby receptionist, however, was also from the home country, but was perfectly bilingual in her first language and English.

We made some good (we thought) suggestions, not of our products or service, but about business, potential customers, quality, and supply chain, mostly to provide "face" for our friend, but it was clear "not made here" was the order of the day for his superiors at the company. Our friend had only been there a month, but the handwriting was on the wall - he only lasted another month before being fired and replaced with someone from the home country.

We met with him again about a year later after work, not at his new company where he claimed to be much happier and more productive. He seemed happier, too! After a few drinks, we learned his original reason for change was that he had advance news the owner of the first company (our customer) was terminally ill and would leave the entire company to his idiot nephew. We, of course, were aware of that through other sources and were working in the background to help arrange a buyout either before or after the nephew took over. In fact, the transition which took place about 6 months after our previous meeting was nearly seamless - the new buyer just paid off the nephew and continued to operate it as a wholly owned subsidiary.

The bottom line was that our friend had really leaped into the new position at the foreign-owned company without real research because he was so panicked and fearful. He was much more circumspect before joining another company.

The moral of both Roxane's and his tale is that going blind into any new situation is a crap shoot at best. If it turns out bad, don't beat yourself up, just vow to do a little better next time, but don't hang on to a bad situation unless you, personally, have the ability to turn it around. If it turns out great - you won the lottery!


All of this happened in a much better job market than the current one. Job seekers today will find interview opportunities and job offers much scarcer today than nearly 20 years ago. It pays to have a good idea of what you are willing to compromise on your "want list" because finding the perfect match for all of your "wants" is not going to be either quick or easy.

 

[Al Dyer]

RC,

The lack of communication within companies still amazes me these days. I love an old movie that starred Jimmy Cagney titled One..Two..Three about Coca Cola running an operation in Germany after World War II. Absolutely Hilarious. Try to catch it some time.

Al...