I got an email from a recruiter two days after I applied online. We set up a phone interview and an online video interview for the next week. On the online video interview, you record yourself answering some typical behavioral questions on this website, it felt weird, I had never done one before.
The phone interview itself was more an hour-long overview of the position, the background check process and the training process, etc. She did a very excellent job explaining the job in very fine detail. I was told at the end of the phone interview that I would be proceeding to the next step...lots of background check paperwork and an online skill assessment. Interesting note: She told me they do not contact your references for legal reasons, so take that as you will. Once those were completed I was contacted two days later by an admin to set up the in-person interview the coming week.
I came in for the face-to-face interview and the gentleman at the security desk could not find locate my appointment, and he kept asking me the names of the hiring managers I was going to meet. I felt extremely awkward and feared I came on the wrong day...but then he manages to find my appointment in the computer.
So I wait and wait and wait for the managers to arrive, I'm not sure if they purposely kept me waiting 10/15 minutes. I noticed the office was rather quiet, everyone looking very serious. I was wondering if the people who worked there ever smiled or laughed at work. They all seemed like drones.
The managers finally arrive but the conference room where we were supposed to have the interview was occupied, so they were running around trying to find an office. They finally locate one and it is in a windowless empty office barely bigger than a closet. So the three of us crammed in this tiny room for a whole hour.
They asked me to "walk through" my resume and I could tell the managers had never seen my resume until 10 seconds before I arrived. From the applicants standpoint, I always find this frustrating. They then asked typical questions, situation and behavioral stuff. They also did the typical "sell me this pen" question. There were no specific product or finance questions...but they did ask me questions about the company to make sure I was well-informed about the business and the job. I had sales experience, they asked MANY questions about my particular past sales job, they seemed to ignore all the other jobs I had on my resume.
But sadly, about half way through the interview, I could tell one of the interviewers already had decided I wasn't the right fit for the job and his attitude clearly changed. His facial expressions and his almost arrogant tone that he wasn't impressed with my answers. I also felt he didn't feel I was sincere in getting the job. I was coming from a layoff in a different field was seeking a career change and wanted to return to sales. I felt he probably though I just wanted a job and not a long-term career with the company. I mentioned I had a friend in a competing company who referred me to TIAA-CREF and he asked for his name (was he think I was making him up?).
Towards the end of the interview he was becoming almost rude, I caught him saying things under his breath and he told the other interviewer to skip the last two questions in their interview packet. At the very end, I asked if I could have their business cards in case I wanted to follow-up with more questions I may have, and they curtly said I could only contact the recruiter. They said I would be informed of a decision within a week and it was all over.
So a week and a half pass and I hear nothing from the company. I emailed the recruiter and was informed I would not be extended an offer. Overall, I felt I would not have been a good fit for the culture at TIAA-CREF based on my in-person interactions with the staff. And by the attitude of the one interviewer, as he would be one of my supervisors, I'm glad I didn't get the job. While the pay would have been amazing..in the end its a call center sales job with a fancy title.
