Today, I wanted to share with you the story of my first post-graduation job interview that never was.
It started with me, late at night, blanketing all of San Diego in emailed resumes. I want to go into public relations, so I basically Googled “PR jobs San Diego.” With my thousands of hits, I began indiscriminately emailing after a quick perusal of each company’s website. I must have sent out more than 30 cover letters and resumes, which may not seem like a lot, but it can get tiring, very quickly.
I wasn’t expecting much, but by the time I woke up the next day, I had an email from one of the companies asking me to call their office to set up an interview. I called immediately, and left a voicemail (at 9:30 a.m.) giving my name, number, and why I had called. About 20 minutes later, I got the call back and had an interview set up for the week after.
I was told that I would be interviewing with the hiring manager, who would explain to me the position and what exactly the company does. I was also told that for my second interview, I would need either my social security card or passport for a background check. Mind you, I hadn’t even had my first interview yet; it had only just been set up.
I was ecstatic. The news was immediately my Facebook status, and I tweeted the update for my loyal followers (who are few and far between, but still deserve my attention). I called my parents to tell them the good news, and they asked for the name of the company to check it out, as well.
Later that week, I started having misgivings about the interview, because some things about the company weren’t sitting right with me. Any time I called the office, even during normal business hours, no one answered the phone. But I always got a call back within the next hour. And their website didn’t really talk about the services they provide to their clients. It talked more about what they did for their employees. And finally, in the modern equivalent of a drive-by, I Google-mapped their office and didn’t like the look of it, nor did I like the fact that they weren’t mentioned by Google Maps as being at the building.
The day of the interview dawned, and my parents called me back about the company. They had come to the same conclusion I had. The company just wasn’t what I was looking for. I can’t say that it wasn’t a legitimate company, or that it wasn’t a good job, but I did know that I didn’t want to work for them.
I called immediately, and left a message of course, saying that I had just accepted a different job offer, and didn’t want to waste their time interviewing. I thanked them for the opportunity, and said I hoped they filled the position soon. Of course, I never got a call back, and that was the end of it.
But it just goes to show, you should always do your due diligence in vetting a company before even applying for a job.
Have you have any similar situations? What did you do about it?
