Did I Overreact?

11 comments

in Discipline, Making decisions, Taking Action

Has it been that long that this sort of behavior has become acceptable in the workplace?

I write this post having just tasted this first hand.  Please weigh in below and let me know if I overreacted in your opinion.  Thanks!

If you run a business this is NEVER okay.  Serious, there is no excuse for this kind of behavior.

As a quick backstory, I recently put my resume up on the career center website for the business school at my alma mater to see if there were any great companies that would contact me for a sales position.  The mental conversation about being an entrepreneur and business owner versus being an employee is one I struggle with from time to time as I sometimes miss the rush of sales and the camaraderie of being part of a team.

Sure enough, last Friday I got my first call back so I setup a job interview for this afternoon.

Being self-employed the last couple years, it has been a while since I have had a job interview so I was even more thorough than usual as I went through the standard procedures of industry and company research as well as identifying opportunities where I feel I could add value to the firm, both now and in the future.  I also had a laundry list of questions ready for the interviewer.

In my research, I was thoroughly impressed by the credentials and numerous accolades of the prestigious firm I was interviewing at.  Their annual growth rates over the last 10 years were incredible averaging double digits for the decade.  Beyond that, they boasted award winning customer service, recognized both locally and nationally by numerous reputable publications and media outlets for their success and growth.

You get the idea.

On paper everything looked good, and I was ready to throw my hat back in the sales and business development world and see what happens.

Fast forward to today.

I arrived for my interview about 10 minutes early and walked in to see an empty front desk where I would normally expect to see a secretary.  Unsure where to sit and wait or walk in, I proceeded into the office, which initially appeared vacant.  After walking down a relatively long hallway with offices on both sides,  I noticed a gentleman in the “corner office” at the end of the hall, so I headed in that direction.

While I was still a good 20 paces aways, I hear “Go wait in the conference room,” out of the corner offer.   Next stop….conference room.

As I sat in the conference room I was in good company, surrounded by countless awards and news articles celebrating the success, customer service and growth of the firm.

Here is a quick timeline of the next 30 minutes:

Waited for the interviewer to appear.  And waited.  And waited.
At 4:05 I began to wonder if I was in the right conference room.  I don’t remember seeing another one so I decided to sit tight.
By 4:10 I started to shake my watch to make sure it was still working.  Isn’t being punctual important, especially in sales and business?  I began to have my doubts if this was the right firm for me.  I mean, if they cannot be punctual for an interview….
When 4:15 rolled around, a good 15 minutes late for the interview, my decision was made.   I waited around with a new sense of curiosity wondering how long it would actually take for someone to show up in the conference room.
As 4:20 rolled around, I had made up my mind that this firm was definitely not a fit
Around 4:25 a young lady walked into the conference room.  I stood up to introduce myself, exchanged pleasantries and then politely told her a firm that makes ANYONE wait 25 minutes is not a firm I want to work at and then excused myself.
Here is the email I sent HR shortly after.
———————————————————————————————–
Hi XXXXX
Thank you for setting up my interview today.
Here is the recap:
I arrived at 3:50pm for my 4pm interview.  No one was at the front desk so I walked in and noticed man in an office down the hall.
The man shouted, “Go wait in the conference room.”  After I verified it was XXX, I went and waited in the conference room. And waited.  And waited.
After waiting in the conferece room for 35 minutes, a girl walked in and introduced herself.
Showing up 25 minutes late to a meeting or interview is not how I do business so I kindly shook her hand introduced myself and excused myself.
Just wanted you to be aware of my reasoning for leaving.  I think you did a great job and were very responsive and I was excited about the possibility of joining the XXXX team but no employee, potential employee or client should ever be ignored and left in a room for more than 30 minutes, so my gut told me this was not the firm for me.
Best of luck with everything.
Thanks for all your help,
Joe
———————————————————————————————–
Look forward to hearing your thoughts.
How would you have handled the situation?
Did I overreact?  Please comment below!  I welcome any tips you have of how you would have handled the situation.
At least for another day I am still self-employed and enjoying it!
Stay positive, keep learning and believe everything happens for a reason!
Other Links you might enjoy:

Tagged as: Discipline, respect, time management

thejoesweeney

Article by Joe Sweeney

Entrepreneur, living a life of happiness, health, and gratitude, while helping and serving as many people and businesses as possible along the way. Take the time to work on yourself - develop your talents, increase your self-esteem, improve the lives of others and take at least a few moments of gratitude every single day

Joe has written 104 awesome articles for us.

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  • Hayley

    Couldn’t agree more!

  • http://www.thejoesweeney.com thejoesweeney

    There is a good chain of comments, ideas and feedback about this post on this Facebook page

    http://www.facebook.com/thejoesweeney

    Post date / time for the Facebook link: 8/8/12 – 9:10pm

    Feel free to leave comments here but if you’re on FB I’d recommend checking out the link

  • MG

    F-ing awesome! No client would stand for that, so why should their potential hires. Great insight into what type of culture they have there.

    If they tried to get you back and apologized, would you go back for an interview?

    • http://www.thejoesweeney.com thejoesweeney

      MG:

      Thanks for the comment, as a COO, MBA and executive, I know you have done a lot of high-level business so you’re insights and opinions are welcomed with open arms here.

      There’s ultimately no way to know if this was an accurate representation of their company culture or if this was as Malcolm Gladwell would say, “an outlier.” They’ve been very successful as a company over the last 14 years so perhaps this was merely an anomaly.

      Interesting you ask that, as I did receive a nice apology note from HR this morning about how this was handled, but there was no mention of setting up another interview.

      At the end of the day, if I missed an opportunity I will have to live with it but I went with my gut on this one.

  • Gregg

    As a sales recruiter, I completely agree with what everybody said! An interview isn’t just about the company interviewing the candidate, it’s about the candidate interviewing the company.

  • jack sweeney

    I agree joe
    If I make a client wait she/he gets coffee juice and an explanation
    jrs

  • Lorna

    Joe, I would have done the same. But I would have known even earlier. They would have lost me at, “Go wait in the conference room.” How rude! And whether this was an “outlier” in terms of how the whole organization operates, it says enough that my “thin slicing” (another brilliant Gladwell insight!) would have told me all I needed to know!

  • Rhea Salkovitch

    Haven’t we all learned since we were kids how important ” first impressions” are? That is why we try to look well groomed and dress professionally when we go on a job interview. Equally or even more important to our appearance is our behavior. So…. not being greeted with a friendly “hello” or smile upon entering the building was rude. Being punctual is a given. Being late is rude and inconsiderate of another person’s time. Worse than being late is not being given any explanation or apology for the tardiness. Keeping someone waiting for twenty-five minutes is ridiculous. So, in response to your blog, Joe, you handled yourself with respect and dignity and deserved to be treated the same way. Unfortunately, ( mostly for them) you did not get the treatment you deserved. The company for which you interviewed does not deserve to have you onboard. Shame on them and hooray for you for staying true to who you are!

  • Kathleen Larsen

    LOVE what you did. Love it. The only thing I would have changed was I would have waited to see if the woman came in and apologized for their tardiness, and what her excuse was. Then I would have left, and explained why you did (as you did).
    You go Joe! thanks for sharing. Great read

    • http://www.thejoesweeney.com thejoesweeney

      Good feedback Kathleen. I did exchange pleasantries with the woman who came in to into interview me and asked her about the tardiness and she apologized and say she didn’t know anything about it. No remorse from my decision and like anything else, there’s always something to learn and things that could have been done different on both sides.

  • Kathleen Larsen

    Nah – you did it right. You addressed it……….. it went no where………. I’d had left too.
    Although I use email & twitter & my cell phone, I REALLY feel that instant technology has made people REALLY lose their “people side / people skills.”
    Ay yay yay yay.
    :)

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