The recruiter reached out to me via LinkedIn. As I was currently on the job market, I gave it a shot. We spoke twice over the phone, casual interview style. Next, I came in for the initial in-person interview, which was located on one of their properties, in a back room, over a video conference call.
I was called back twice more for the same style interview. All 3 of the people I interviewed with via video conference on one of their properties, thought I was a good candidate for the job.
I was invited to a "Day in the Field" where I would shadow one of the leasing consultants. As I am familiar with apartment living, I had a pretty good general sense of what the office environment would be like; daily tasks and interactions, etc.
I was offered another job during this time, which isn't surprising since this interview process took about three weeks.
I accepted the job and let the recruiter know I was no longer interested in the Leasing Consultant position.
2 months later the same recruiter reached out to me again.
She told me their offices were growing and needed more talent in my location. The job I had previously accepted allowed time for another position, so I was open to a "Day in the Field" once again.
I attended their UNPAID "Day in the Field" and totally wasted seven hours of my life.
I'm unsure what they expect of their participants, but shadowing an apartment leasing consultant was not a day's worth of observing.
The day I was there was "unusually slow" - or that's what the other leasing consultants said. They spend most of their time sending eblasts and posting on Craigslist every 15 minutes…
So their daily tasks are ultimately administrative and redundant.
Unless they wanted me to ask to help them with paperwork (unlikely since I was UNPAID and unfamiliar with their forms), there was nothing for me to participate in hands-on and it was mind numbing to sit through.
Although the employees I met were friendly, the UNPAID "Day in the Field" was hands-off and I sat there and watched them do paperwork.
At the end of it, yes, I was capable of doing the job and capable of doing paperwork, answering phones, setting up tours of the property, etc...
But leaving their office, I had no intention of ever coming back.
Yet a day later, the recruiter I had been in contact with for months, sends me an impersonal email which stated 'I was unfit for this position at this time'.
No sweat off my back - but why hound me for a month, and then come back two months later on repeat?
Pretty weird?
Probably didn't show enough enthusiasm for the unpaid-seven-hour-paperwork-driven day in the field...
Should have gone with my gut and completely written off this company the first time.