Your first interview at NAEA is a group interview – three of them and several candidates. The first thing they tell you is that they haven’t seen anyone’s application. They’re not all interested in your qualifications or experience. Their first and only interest is whether you fit in with their “culture” – i.e. whether they like you. Regardless of the position you’ve applied for, they tell you that they believe that anyone can be taught to do any job.
At some point during the group interview, they also tell you that, if they don’t think you’ll fit into the group, you’ll never hear from them again. It’s been two months, I haven’t heard from them, and I also know that they never checked out a blog that they required me to start as part of the application process.
I have tried contacting them for follow-up, but my e-mail was ignored. However, my e-mail address was added to their mailing list, and now I get one or two e-mails a day from them asking me to sign up for webinars or buy their books. (When I tried to reply to their e-mail, supposedly from one of the partners, my e-mail was rejected and returned by the Mailer Daemon.)
Note: The interview is set up by computer as soon as your online application hits their system. If something comes up and you need to make a change that morning, you can’t get hold of anyone because no one answers the phone. I left voicemail, but never got a response. Finally, after missing the interview because I was sick in bed, I called again and hit the number for “Sales”; the person who answered told me that the person who does the interviews wasn’t even in the office that week.
The general atmosphere of the office is unprofessional. Open bull pen, with a ping pong table in the middle. There are a lot of folding tables set up, with laptop computers and people swarming everywhere. During the interview, you’re told the dress code is “clothes of any kind, even pajamas”.
Everyone in the office looked to be just out of high school or maybe college. Even the girls who interview you are only in their mid-twenties at the oldest. If you have any experience in your field, you’ll probably want to pass on this company.
