Gordon Food Service Interview Questions & Reviews

Interviewed Mar 2011 (took 4 weeks)

I found this job opening on the job boards and then contacted the company directly to see if the position had been filled, and I was directed to complete the online application process. I was then contacted by the HR manager and scheduled to take online I.Q. and personality test. About a week later I was scheduled to interview with the Area/District Sales Manager in town.

This interview was typical with all the standard questions about work history and background, except because my sales background was NOT in food product (but I have sold to restaurants, independent & corporate chains) I was asked to take a day and visit several restaurants and meet with the kitchen managers/cooks and see if this was something I "really wanted to do." I completed that assignment that day and emailed the ASM a detailed report regarding the six restaurants I visited.

I was then contacted about a two weeks later to schedule a meeting at the regional distribution center, about 130 miles away. Met with Area Sales Manager and regional VP, with slightly more intense questions about how I would handle customers who demand "too much" and if I would have a problem with collecting on past due accounts. Another question was "how whould I handle a prospect that would not buy from me even though I had been stopping in for a long time, and they called me on a Sunday and said they needed steaks that day because their regular supplier could not deliver?" They wanted to hear that I would deliver them myself on a Sunday and also demand that I continue to get their steak business for doing that.
I was then asked if I would agree to a day-long, ride-a-long with a account rep in his territory?

About a week later I went on the ride-a-long and I felt like I had good report with the rep, even helping out at the end of the day with delivering some product to a customer back in what would have been my territory about 80 miles away, saving another rep and the company travel cost to get the product to the customer in time. The rep seemed nice enough, although he did take some product from one of his customers (with their knowledge but without asking...SOP I guess for this rep). When I ask the rep about earnings potential he was vague and I never did get a straight answer from anyone on this point. I felt that I had excellent rapport with the customers I met and engaged with each easily.

About a week later I received a call from the ASM that they had decided to go with "someone more in-line with their culture." Frankly I don't understand what went wrong as a customer later told me that the rep they hired was not as "good" as I was and they even quit doing business with Gordon.

I would rate this interview process as difficult because of the personal expense in time and money spent and the clearly ambigious reason for not selecting me.