Published:

07/09/2011 04:30pm

Job Interview Deceit and Deception

by Barry James Hickey

Never go on a job interview without good information about the hiring company. It can be a real waste of time, especially when what you are applying for may not be what is advertised.

Here is a good example: I was contacted by a marketing company that discovered my resume on Monster.com, CareerBuilder.com or SimplyHired.com. They couldn't remember which. They were offering $40,000 a year in guaranteed salary with the potential to earn $100,000 in commissions.

Flag #1: The company would not reveal the nature of their marketing. All would be revealed in the interview. Do I enjoy promotions?

We scheduled the interview. I reorganized my busy schedule, put my blue interview suit and tie in the cleaners and bought a new pair of shoes. On interview day I paid the parking garage $6, took my receipt and hiked three blocks to the interview.

Flag #2: The only furniture in the reception area was a desk and three folding chairs. Bare walls, a giddy temp receptionist with a cell phone and an Ipad.

Flag #3: I was ten minutes early for the interview. They didn't have any previous information about me except my name and phone number. Then they asked me to fill in an eight-page application for their recruiter. There were no pens available. I provided my own. I also gave the receptionist my resume.

Flag #4: Two prospective employees were ahead of me waiting to be interviewed. They were in their twenties, still attending junior college. $100,000 a year sounded pretty fair.

Flag #5: The recruiter buzzed into the reception area from her folding table in the adjacent empty room next to us. She rudely barked to the frightened receptionist that she was ready for her conference call to corporate in California. The receptionist didn't know how to connect her. The flustered recruiter took the number and dialed it herself. Twenty minutes later, she returned to the lobby and asked if anyone was available to walk to Starbucks to get her an iced latte. No one was available. Nobody was hired in this market share to run to Starbucks. The receptionist offered her a Mountain Dew from her purse but the health-conscious recruiter declined. The recruiter glanced at the junior college students and me. There was a small roll of the eyes. Was it my cologne? She took our applications, pounded to her office and assumed her official position on a high-backed, ergonomic office chair.

Flag #6: After checking her makeup in a small pocket mirror and without looking at the applications or resumes, she returned to the reception area and asked for the next person waiting. It wasn't me. I was finally escorted into her office an hour after my scheduled interview. She offered a false smile and anxiously sat behind her desk, noticing the time on her wristwatch. "We have to make this brief," she instructed. "I have a conference call coming in from corporate. So tell me about yourself."

I started to, sort of. She glanced at my resume, her eyes squinting as she interrupted. "What makes you a fit for 123 Marketing?"

"I don't know that I am a fit," I said. "I don't even know what your company does."

Her eyes rolled again. Her upper lip curled. "I apologize," she said. "My receptionist is a temp hire. We are the fastest growing Direct Marketing company in America. We excel at promotions."

"Can you explain Direct Marketing?" I asked. "Just to be clear."

"In this market we have booths at retail locations where our consultants explain and promote our products."

"What sort of products?"

"In this market, we are ramping up sales of two highly-desired tangibles; Newspapers and cable television."

"It sound more like direct sales than marketing," I said. "What is the promotion end of it?"

She glanced at my resume. Shrugged when she saw that I sold cars, taught high school, sang and danced in plays.

"Are you ready for a major career change?" she asked bluntly.

"I had a paper route for three years when I was a kid," I said. "Tell me about the cable."

She explained the customer incentive package only avail