General Etiquette > All In A Day's Work

Job hunting/interview questions - two odd scenarios

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kitchcat:
I'm a university student and I've been hunting for a summer job for a couple months. Recently, I had two experiences that baffled me a little. I'm not sure if it's a normal thing or if its just something I'm not accustomed to.

Scenario 1
I responded to a craigslist ad for a part-time position at Big Name Home Improvement Store (Big Name), specifically the location right by my house. The position was for a product demonstrator to show customers the benefits/how to use certain products. Cool. The person responded (there was no name on the ad and the email response I got had "General Manager" below their name in the signature) and after some back-and-forth, asked if I could come in for an interview. I said yes, and just to make sure, I asked if this would be at the Big Name at [close address]. Their response? No. It's not at Big Name at [close address], it will be at [Unrelated Product Company] at [address 1.5 hours away]!

I was super confused at that point and said, "I thought this was for a position at Big Name, not  Unrelated Product Company." He emailed me back saying "You will be working at Big Name at [close address], but you will be employed by Unrelated Product Company because you will be doing demos of our product. I work for Unrelated Product Company. You will need to come to [far address] for the interview and for two weeks for training if you are hired before you will be working at Big Name."

Umm...what? Why didn't you say you didn't work for Big Name in your ad or in your emails? Not to mention that there is no dangity dang way I'm going to drive 3 hours a day for an interview and 2 weeks for a part time position. I responded that given those facts, I was no longer interested in the position.

Scenario 2

I applied for a retail position at a store. One night around 8pm, I got a call from one of the managers asking me to come in for a pre-interview math test...the very next morning at 8:00am...in 12 hours. I was out of town at the time so there was no way I could make that. I told them that and asked if I could take it when I returned to town the following week. The manager said that would be fine, just call when I got back in town and they would set it up.

So I called today, and spoke with a higher-up manager and explained the situation. She said that the way they operate is the hold the math tests the day after the go through applications and because I couldn't go to the test earlier, my application was trashed and I would have to re-apply all over again. Well, that's no biggie, so I reapplied. But I find it odd that their standard practice is to call 12 hours before the test and tell applicants to be there or nothing. I realize since it's a retail position, they probably have fairly high turn over and expect you to bend to their schedule, but isn't this a little over the top?

Yvaine:
Scenario 1 sounds like a scam. I think you dodged a bullet. There are unscrupulous companies that pull things like that.

Scenario 2 is probably meant to be a way to whittle down the number of apps really quickly, but I totally get why it's annoying and I especially think the first manager dropped the ball by making it seem like your taking the test at a later date would be fine.

Grancalla:
Scenario 1 doesn't seem so odd, assuming the demo was legit and Big Name Store had actually outsourced their demos to this company. In my experience, interviews are done at the main office, regardless of the eventual job site. I do think they dropped the ball by not mentioning where the training would be held, especially since it's so far from the job site.

Unless they get a lot of apps and have to weed out a lot of duds, scenario 2 does seem a little over-aggressive, but not entirely unheard-of. I agree with Yvaine, the first manager dropped the ball.

mrkitty:
I actually think it's not entirely unreasonable to interview for the product demonstrator position. Like PP said, sometimes companies outsource certain functions and the headquarters of the demonstrating company could be that far away. To be safe, though, it might be prudent to call the local Big Name store and check with the manager that they do, in fact, have product demonstrators from the company that actually do that in their store. If the answer is no, then it likely is a scam. No harm in following up and checking them out with the store.

The second one is the one I have more issues with. If they want to give candidates a math test, or any test, fine. I can see them wanting to hire people who can be flexible with their time - retail schedules do fluctuate. However, it's also important that employers respect the time and resources of their candidates and employees, too. It's a knife that cuts both ways. Candidates should be as flexible as they can reasonably be, and the employer should be respectful. Giving a mere 12 hours notice is not reasonable, in my opinion. Even when working retail, (as I have done in my life), employees are entitled to know what their next week's scheduled hours are more than 12 hours in advance.

I can understand employers wanting to have candidates jump through hoops to work there. In a seller's market (where employers are in the driver's seat), they can, and often do, get away with doing silly and sometimes insulting things to candidates. Then again.....treating candidates disrespectfully or abusively (the line can be a fine one) can have repercussions, including hiring someone who will remember how they're treated, and when the market opens back up, not feeling particularly loyal. Both sides have to operate respectfully for a healthy relationship.  ;D

cicero:
scenario 1 i can understand - though they shoud have made it clear in the ad. it seems logical to me that the actual employer will be the company promoting the product, and not the BigName store. However, they should make things clear. I have yet to find a job ad on craigslist that is actually ok or legit.

scenario 2 sounds bizarre to me. What difference does it make if you do the test within 12 hours or 48 hours?

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