I came in for an in person interview. Prior to arrival I had filled out an online application with all of my information including my work background and 3 references. In addition I provided my resume which listed all of the same information. When I arrived they asked me to fill out the same form again. OK- fine. This form asks for an additional 3 references. While I am sitting there the girl at the front desk is talking in detail, loudly about her personal life, looking at her phone on instagram and ignoring the phone. OK- not a great first impression. The hiring manage seemed down to earth. I asked what about my background made them interested in me as a candidate they said they were impressed by my analytics experience and as they were getting into more direct to consumer retail. They were hoping for someone who could lead the team. This sets off some red flags for me. I applied as a customer service rep, not a manager- I didn't mind that they looked at my resume with manager in mind but they didn't disclose this in the job posting or prior communications. This makes me think they're looking for employee's to do higher level work for lower level pay. After I interview with the hiring manager they bring me into another room to interview with another manager. She appeared to be completely unprepared for my interview. She basically asked me the same question 4 times. She was concerned that I didn't have an instrumental background. Despite the fact that I studied classical music intensively for 14 years, play 3 instruments and have performed in places like Carnegie hall, and Lincoln Center, with the NY Phil Harmonic and for royalty at Stirling Castle, and went to school on a full ride music scholarship. She did not ask me about my musical history prior to stating this concern. I was then asked to take a "Test." The test consists of reading through about 20 comparison texts and judging if there are errors. This is totally fine with me, but I was told the interviews would be 1-2 hours. I had another interview scheduled that day, and other plans. It would have been nice if this portion of the process had been disclosed to me ahead of time so I could have allotted for it. Finally as I was leaving the person who scheduled my interview came back and asked me for another 5 references. (Thats 11 references people) To be honest, I think she lost my initial paperwork. 11 is excessive. Not asking for those ahead of time makes it difficult on an interviewee- as anyone with a remote level of consideration for others would want to contact their references AHEAD of time. I was just getting less and less of a sense that they knew what they were doing.... After this they schedule me for a "Mock customer call interview." This is basically a role play with their sales team. They gave me questions via email ahead of time and then had me call them to pretend there was an issue with their products and see how I worked out the situation. It was creative, for sure, but I honestly thought that these were questions that could have been posed in a behavioral interview rather than a manufactured fake customer experience setting or again- online. I think this bit is on me, because I was pretty frustrated with this company at this point. I should have just stopped them and said I was no longer interested and that I didn't think they'd be a good fit. I imagine some of that frustration translated during this interview. So afterwards I didn't follow up. It's been over a month since my interview and I never heard from them. That's cool, I wasn't really looking to deal with them anymore. I had enough. Then I get a letter of rejection in the mail. It just says, you interviewed with us and we have decided not to hire you. But we will keep your info on file. Not an email people. A letter, they spent postage on a typed letter to tell me they didn't want to hire me. It included no feedback (though I suspect that I didn't hide my vibe of "You're a bunch of idiots." super well and that's probably why I didn't get it) it included no information on why I wasn't selected, it too was a waste of my time. Also- they didn't call any of my references... so if I find out those people get emails for marketing from this company I am going to have a fit. I had heard bad things about the way Kala conducted their business through the grapevine. That they didn't pay their subcontractors, that they were cheap and difficult to do business with and that they were unprofessional. But their products are amazing, and I had also heard they had a great company culture. I was excited at the prospect of working in music again and getting to know what seemed like a great group of people. (Like I think I'd be down to get drinks with every person I interviewed with) After interviewing with them I can't say for sure which rumors were true, but I can tell you I don't get the impression it's the second half.

I applied to the position via a posting on Indeed. I was contacted via email a couple of days later, inviting me to take a phone screening. The phone screening seemed straight forward however after that was when things went South. They told me that the next step in the process was to complete an email questionnaire of common customer service questions. It took several days, and several emails back and forth, for them to get this to me. I had to email the person I did the phone interview with to follow up, in order to get him to send this over. After I completed the questionnaire and sent it back, it took another several days and several emails back and forth to get any further response. I was informed that the next step in the process was to complete a series of simulated customer service phone calls. Again, it took several days and several emails back and forth to get this set up. The people I was communicating with repeatedly gave me excuses such as they were "busy and got behind" or were "in the middle of restructuring their department." After I finally was able to get in and complete the simulated customer service calls, they basically dropped me like a hot potato and I never heard from them again. Emails to the person who originally contacted me to follow up, went unanswered. I was not able to get in touch with anyone over the phone because they called me from different numbers every time they spoke with me and I had no idea which number was the correct one. It is unfortunate that this company either did not seem to view filling this position as a high priority, or had no intention of hiring me and decided to string me along instead of just telling me. This entire ordeal stretched out over almost 2 months of my time and this was time that I could have been out pursuing other opportunities. This company is in the process of expanding and opening a new distribution center on the East Coast; what a terrible way to treat prospective employees in a new territory. They will have a very difficult time keeping this new distribution center staffed and operating properly if the continue treating applicants like this: word will get around.