I put my resume out on LinkedIn and have been looking for a new job closer to my home. Punchey never came up in my searches, nonetheless, I was contacted by them for an Account Manager opportunity and was asked to come in and interview. I was told that the President of the company came across my profile and thought I would be a good fit. I did my due-diligence and verified the name provided was indeed was the President of the company, and they were legitimate. My first red flag should have been that there were no open positions posted on their website.
I attended the in person interview in Milford, CT and the person whom was supposed to interview me came in late and seemed frazzled. He and his assistant (who was lovely) began to unpack their things, asked me to sit on a couch and pulled up some chairs to begin the extremely informal interview.
The interviewer began by asking me questions clearly intended for another candidate. When I corrected him, he said, “Ok, well why did you apply to Punchey?”. I responded that I didn’t, you reached out to me. I’m familiar with interview etiquette and went on from there to highlight what I had learned about the company and what I thought I could bring to it.
“Oh, you’re the LinkedIn person.” I still don’t know what this means.
The interview went on although I don’t think he heard a word I said as he consistently interrupted to make a private joke to his assistant, check his phone or show something on his phone to his assistant.
I have worked in a fast-paced industry for all my professional career. This wasn’t a busy man; this was a very frazzled and distracted man.
Next, he brought in the person whom he said the position would be reporting to. The person was not prepared for the interview and clearly caught off guard. The entirety of his time there was spent disagreeing with the interviewer about what the position entailed. Being that there was no actual posting, I have no way to tell you who was accurate. The most obvious inconsistency was the interviewer saying that the position did not include sales. The potential-future manager wholeheartedly disagreed. The interviewer then said, “Well, light sales, right?” Potential-future manager replied with, “Fine. Sure”.
Following this, I got a tour of the office, and everyone there seemed great. Motivated, ready to work, excited to tell me about the product. They were focused on sales. The interviewer later clarified that the Account Manager position would be light sales, heavy managing clients.
We were very far apart on salary, but he said with bonuses and commission (for a light sales position) we’d get closer. They thanked me and asked for me to send 3 references which I did that afternoon.
I gave them contact information for a former supervisor, a former direct report, and a former colleague. The interviewer called them all. All of them called me and said they had a great conversation. I thanked them, and was excited about the potential position and easier commute than what I was used to.
I gave it a few days and after not hearing anything, I called the interviewer on the number he gave me, but no voicemail had been set up. I followed up with an email and nothing. They ended up ghosting me.
I can’t speak to the product or full staff, but the hiring practice in CT is unprofessional and as far as I’m concerned, dishonest.
