An initial phone screen with a recruiter led to a phone interview/screening with their HR director, who was a very nice person. We then setup a time to interview on-site. I know the geographical area so I knew to expect large amounts of agricultural acreage and farmland with probably a small manufacturing facility and even smaller office area. I confirmed this via Google Earth. On the day I arrive there is a small HR area in a portable bungalow, and a slightly larger office area in a separate house (literally, it is an old mansion/large house converted for corporate use).
Upon arrival I’m welcomed into the HR bungalow to first meet with three of the plant managers. I don’t get asked for ID or any credentials, or even to sign-in anywhere, so I guess I could’ve been anyone as far as they’re concerned. The interview begins well but I quickly get the impression that they are slightly unorganized and unprepared for interviewing me, as their questions to me only last 10-15 minutes. We have an allotment of 1 hour, so I proceed to drive the interview myself and ask them questions in an attempt to get them to open up a bit about what they do, what I’d be doing, how we will be working together in my potential role, plant production processes, etc. Throughout, I also got the impression that my motives for moving from a large metropolis to a small farm town and from a large world-class company to a small farm were being questioned. As such, a few times I had to justify myself (closer to home and family, wanting to have more of an impact with a small, growing company, etc.). That said, the three gentlemen were all very nice, yet apparently more focused on returning to their production tasks at hand rather than interviewing me. This was based on my perceived lack of unpreparedness combined with their lack of questions on their part.
It is then time for my plant tour which is scheduled for 1 hour, however they are not ready. They had some manufacturing issues to attend to which, coming from high-speed food production myself, I can understand 100%. So I wait for 30-45 minutes. By then it is almost time for the third stage of my interview with the CEO, VP, and CFO of the company. We begin that process on time (granted, having skipped the plant tour) and I’m led into a conference room on the 2nd floor of the large mansion conversion. The CEO, VP, and CFO are all there. The CEO (and I believe the other two as well) had never seen my resume up until then so they spend a few minutes reviewing it. I’m then asked to go over my career history up until then, and it becomes evident to me that they in fact had not read my resume at all, or read it so long ago that they’d forgotten some of the obvious details. Again, I’m beginning to notice unpreparedness as a recurring them here, at least with respect to their interviewing process.
Within 5 minutes, the CEO gets up and excuses himself to attend to an urgent matter. 5-10 minutes after that, the VP also excuses himself for the same reason. I am left with the CFO to answer some typical interview questions. We end up chatting about various topics relating to farming, food manufacturing, automation, etc. Within 20 minutes, he excuses himself as he has a meeting commitment, which is surprising given that we had 1 hour allocated for this portion of the interview, and it’s only been 30 minutes in. I still had quite a few questions I was curious to ask and I feel we had plenty more to learn mutually. I’m led out and shown the door.
I’ve been in manufacturing most of my career so I can understand having last minute urgent production issues to prioritize, and so I left a small benefit of doubt to that. So, I left with positive thoughts even after not having the opportunity to see the plant. However in all, after thinking for a couple of days about how the events transpired that day of the interview, I felt the company was highly unprepared and had likely made up their mind about me either immediately after I showed up on the property or perhaps even prior. This may explain why the first “questioning” only lasted 10-15 minutes, and the CEO, VP left within 10 minutes, and the CFO cut his portion in half.
I received notice within 5 days that the company does not wish to pursue the interview process with me, which is fine because I felt the same way and by that time I had actually been invited back for a 2nd visit to a better prepared and more enthusiastic company.
