I was recently given the opportunity, as a “new guy”, to give my first impression of CablesAndKits concerning the interview process. I guess, since it is still fresh in my mind, I can show you in vivid, accurate portrayal the events that occurred…or at least try to.
My first interview at CablesAndKits was your standard phone interview. Susan asked me a few questions and set up an actual interview with me the following week. I’ve been through several phone interviews before and this was your standard “get to know you before I meet you interview”. Everything after this interview wasn’t so standard.
The first interview I had with CablesAndKits was a group interview with the HR Manager, Susan, the Business Development Manager, Chris, and Alicia, one of the members of the sales team. The first thing I notice during the interview is that I am WAY overdressed. Here I am in a charcoal black suit and a red tie while the people around me are wearing jeans and tennis shoes. In the back of my mind I was wondering if today was a casual dress day. The interview process was very welcoming and I didn’t feel like I was on the witness stand, like I normally do in an interview, Susan directed the interview while Chris and Alicia chimed in with questions of their own. Overall, I would say the process was the least tense I’ve been through. In my experience with other interviews, I’ve always felt under pressure to say the “right” things and here I felt relaxed enough to give genuinely honest feedback.
I thought the interview went well and about nine days passed before I got a response. Those were probably some of the longest days of my life. If I had only one criticism against the interview process, it would be the wait time for a response. And understandably, the company had several projects on its plate before it could respond. I then got the call, and on Monday I would meet the CEO.
When you think of a CEO of a multi-million dollar company, you would normally picture a guy in a navy power suit with a gruff demeanor. Well, at least that’s what I pictured. When I met Craig, the CEO of CablesAndKits, I was more than a little surprised. Here’s a guy who dressed in jeans and a short sleeve button-up for my second interview. I tried to shake his hand from across the interview table, but he intentionally, or unintentionally, grabbed the four fingers at the end of my hand. I am known for awkward situations and, for me, this was like the kind of awkwardness you find when you’re on a first date and you run out of things to talk about. Then it began—the most informal and fun (yes, I said fun!) interview of my life. I’m not trying to suck up or anything to try to get a raise—although that would be awesome!— (Only kidding of course), but my perception of Craig is more like the cool young professor who’s rebelling against his elders who reside in the boring ivory tower.
As the interview went on, Craig went off on tangents. He even quoted a whole scene from the film Clerks while we were discussing customer service, the scene when Randall says, “This job would be great if it wasn’t for the customers”. (He edited for language, of course.) I was inspired by his entrepreneurial spirit and his enthusiasm. I was also surprised by his laid-back behavior. I told him I was an English major and he quoted an entire YouTube video, “Things we say wrong”, and I busted out laughing during the interview. Who in their right mind would “laugh and bust a gut” at their interview?
Needless to say, I got the job and so far I’m very happy to be a part of this family. I can’t wait to see what sort of craziness must go on around here on a daily basis!
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