The interview experience here had unexpected parts and some just plain weird parts. I sent in my application online and was called in first for an in-person interview. This was a bit unexpected in an interview process, since most first interviews are screening interviews on the phone. But I was happy to have the opportunity to present myself in person first, which I think is always better anyway.
I had been to the interview location before, although not as a job applicant, so I knew the layout a bit. But going there to meet a staff person on business, it’s confusing and quite unwelcoming. There is a door on the outside (from the parking lot) that says it’s the main entrance, but it really doesn’t help to direct you to meeting up with a staffer. Once I went a little deeper inside, I could see that there was a place and probably designated staff people to greet me and connect me with the right person for my business there, but that didn’t happen right away. There were many people around the area and many people passing me, but all of them except one stopped to greet me (granted, most of them were volunteers/people who don’t work there). Still, dressed in a suit, I looked out of place among them, and most people could guess that I had a specific purpose for being there. At one point, I actually opened a door that had a sign saying “staff area” on it, and I immediately saw two people in the area behind the door, but neither of them even bothered to say anything to me or even make eye contact.
After finally being greeted by a staff person, I waited several minutes in the waiting area and then was taken to the back, where I met with two staffers. They asked me standard interview questions, mostly about my past work experience. But things got really strange when I asked them some questions. To start with, the job description that I replied to was quite vague – it was all generalities about the position. No specific responsibilities listed. I asked about some of the specific duties – producing the newsletter and helping with fundraising. The two staffers answered my questions to some extent, but once or twice they looked at me strangely, like what I was asking about was taboo or something. Or maybe they just didn’t know – maybe specific duties of the position had not been determined, yet they were told to be involved in the hiring of the position. I suspected this was the case – that this job or maybe something beyond that (positions and how they fit into the staffing structure) was not organized. It seemed strange to me that a communications director position wouldn’t have specific responsibilities in both overseeing and being hands-on in producing the newsletter, for example, but the response given to me about that was a mumbled, “Oversight.” I just thought that response was strange and elusive. I asked about the CEO of the organization, who this position would answer to – what type of leader and manager he is. More general answers (“He’s passionate.”) and some suspected elusiveness. The final thing they left me with was that they would be in touch with any next steps, although they didn’t tell me what they would or might be (a second interview, perhaps with the CEO? a writing test?) . I suspect they didn’t know. Again, I could be wrong, but my conclusion from all of that was that the staffing structure and specific duties of specific positions – maybe just this particular new one that I was interviewing for – was unorganized, which would mean it would not be a good place to work.
