Applying was straightforward and they checked out my digital portfolio before coming in for an interview. They did make me fill out a very long pen-and-paper application when I got in, before the interview even started, which asked for way too much info. Very bizarre.
Despite it being 2014 and them wanting FLASH-heavy graphic design work done (because so much of their training material was done via Flash), and Flash-capable designers being a vanishing breed, they only wanted to pay low-30s annually. $35,000 or higher was out of the question (you could tell in the owner's eyes he would not do it). Of course they don't let you in on that until late in the interview process.
And they asked for a range upfront too, and I had specifically listed $30-40k, because I figured they'd be smart enough to know that meant "somewhere in the middle to high end."
Anyways, the company is located off I-65, south of 459...and I-65 is the worst expressway I have ever traveled. It's just awful. So it's not a fun commute unless you live by Riverchase/Alabaster. The company is about 5 minutes away from the expressway, in what appears to be an old industrial drive area. For some, commuting would be a chore.
The building itself looked fine from the outside, but had a weird scent and vibe to it on the inside. Everything felt small and rather claustrophobic. It felt more like a double-wide modular than an actual office building.
The interview room was filled with a large dying plant, stained ceiling tiles, a clearly unused, dusty Wii U and circa-late 80s decor. It felt like I went back in time 20 years.
I interviewed with a very high up individual first, who was a bit too candid about themselves, their feelings about people in Alabama and obstacles they personally faced in the industry after 9/11. It was very odd, considering I never asked about any of this. They asked all about how I would rate myself on a scale of 1-10 with different programs...and for the ones I rated as '9' or '10' the person looked at me suspiciously. Keep in mind they had already seen dozens of portfolio examples of print- and web-design I had done for companies much larger than his.
The person then went on to describe the work environment, and how everything was very secretive and meticulous in detail. Keep in mind this was NOT govt. contract work or top-secret work in any way. I would be working with 3D animators and engineers and very engineering-savvy copy writers. Despite all this, they didn't seem to put too much focus on the actual Flash stuff at all, despite all my day-to-day work being done in it. It was very odd, because they didn't really have Flash programmers on staff - the designer would be responsible for making training material interactive (the devs focused on the quiz portions and other old software).
They seemed to not understand how time-consuming, exacting and challenging Flash work was (and just figured it was "an easy last step"). That may be why the pay was so low (they just were out of touch).
The person then introduced the head of the department I'd be in and they were very nice, but seemed very young. Too young to be in a management role. I could sense some tension, as I was clearly older than them (not by a decade or more, but enough to feel significantly older/more experienced) and design- and tech-wise, there was little for me to learn here. In other words, the department head maybe resented that as it perhaps devalued their role.
I was not some fresh college grad, but then again, fresh college grads nowadays are not even exposed to Flash!
Anyways, here were the dealbreakers they mentioned indirectly:
- You could not wear headphones AT ALL because you weren't allowed to listen to ANY MUSIC during work.
- You were not allowed to bring in your phone or music player or any device into the building.
- You were not allowed to take any screenshots or files or anything else created by you outside the company at any time, and that they checked people for USB drives and things like that.
They only mentioned that info after I mentioned I liked to just put on my headphones and do my work...
So anyways...YIKES. Was this the Pentagon?
I informed them a couple days later I was unable to accept their offer.
