I am passionate about sustainability and scaling emerging businesses so when I came across an opening with The Wally Shop, I wrote a thoughtful cover letter and submitted my resume. I was thrilled when I heard back from the CTO who was interested in having a conversation, but things really went downhill from there.
The initial email suggested a window of availability, I responded promptly and expressed my enthusiasm for our future conversation. Finally, after following up multiple times, I received a confirmation the morning of the interview. To my surprise, they weren’t looking for me to pick a time within the window, they were simply letting me know that they would call me sometime within that time frame based on their schedule. I thought this was odd, and dismissive, but brushed it off as inexperience in scheduling interviews, and a heavy workload, I waited by the phone. When I received the call, I started off with a polite greeting, only to be cut off with the following statement; “Look, I only have 10 minutes, so I am going to jump right into it”. What followed was a rapid fire of technical question which I found myself rushing through to ensure we stayed on track, when he was done he said “Great, I got what I needed, we will be in touch in a few weeks” and hung up the phone. No opportunity to ask questions, no “thank you for your time and interest”, no background on the role and company. Needless to say, I never heard back.
By no means do I expect to be a fit for every position I interview for, and as a senior professional I fully understand how busy a hiring manager can be, but I do expect some common decency and an ounce of respect, maybe even a tinge of compassion given current events, and the state of the job market. My interview experience with The Wally Shop can only be described as rude, unprofessional and downright bizarre. A lack of interviewing experience doesn’t justify a lack of common sense and decency when speaking to people who love your brand and are your potential customers. I wish The Wally Shop all the very best, it’s a great concept, but I do hope they focus on leadership and reconsider their approach.
