I first completed a phone interview with the HR consultant, which lasted about a half-hour. It was a comfortable interview that begin with a description of the job, followed by the usual questions about my education, employment background, and business skills. The HR consultant was polite and professional.
The next step was an on-site group interview with two of the company managers. I was asked to explain how my experience and skills would be a good fit for the open position, as I understood the requirements. Many of their questions focused on how I would manage difficult employees with performance problems, and I needed to provide real life examples of how I had dealt with performance problems in the past. These two interviewers seemed distracted and anxious to get the interview over with. I left with the impression that I had been given the “brush-off”.
Within the next week, I received a phone message from the HR consultant advising that I was not a good fit for the position, and they needed to keep looking. Just as well, I thought, since I perceived the two interviewers to be indicative of a broader morale problem within T-Mobile’s corporate culture.
A few weeks later, I received another call from the HR consultant who asked if I would interview with the Director of Operations, which was setup for the following week. The Director of Operations was personable and the consummate professional. The interview lasted about two hours and included the usual questions about my background and education. Many questions pertained to my knowledge of the company – their products, services, CEO, parent company, number of employees, history, business model, etc. Fortunately, I had researched the company on the internet and read their SEC filings.
Immediately after this interview, I was taken on a tour of the facility and given an opportunity to ask my own questions. During the tour, I was also asked about process controls, ISO requirements, six sigma methodologies, and assorted logistics questions.
The facility was generally neat and clean, although some areas of the warehouse were pretty cluttered. The shipping / receiving operation seemed to rely too heavily on manual processes, and I sensed that keeping accurate track of customer owned product could be problematic.
An additional three weeks past before I was contacted again by the HR consultant with an offer, which I declined.
Advice for others:
- Research the company before the interview; know their competitors, products, and services well
- Ask the HR rep a lot of questions about the job; the interviewers, and their personalities