I did not apply for this position, I was contacted by a "hiring manager" based on my resume on Monster.com. Very vague job description was provided and when I asked for more details, I was provided with the same information, copy and pasted. From the get go, I was completely skeptical of the company as a whole, but out of curiosity I went for an interview.
The office was empty, with a few rooms off to the sides. I sat in a hallway with about 10 other people waiting to be interviewed. I was asked to "come prepared" with a copy of my resume. I was asked for my resume when I checked in and later realized, that it was actually a copy for the hiring manager to review in the interview. When I was called into the office, I was complimented on my outfit, that it was his favorite colour. Then, the hiring manager made a comment that they had only been in the office for 3 weeks and that was the reason why the office looked so empty and undecorated. Generic questions were asked. Nothing that would give them a sense of what sort of worker or employee you'd be. More or less wanted to make sure you could manage a conversation which would mean that you'd be qualified to work for this company.
After a very general discussion about staying for a meeting with the owner, I was placed in a meeting room which eventually filled up with the candidates that I saw earlier waiting for my interview. We were all given a personality test, which is common for employers to give. Generic questions were asked on the 6 paged personality test. However, on one of the pages there were two questions that were absolutely insane. The two questions were something along the lines of this :1. I value sleep. Actually, if I do not get enough sleep I turn into a grumpy monster. 2. I take comfort in knowing that my paycheque is deposited bi-weekly into my bank account. It is as comforting as a steaming got cup of laxative tea. I wish I was kidding.
After this, I had to sit through a ONE HOUR SEMINAR with the "owner" Byron Paz, who boasted about his success with the company. How he started out as a refugee, and could not go to university to be an engineer because he could not afford to pay as an international student. So, after being a labourer and hating it, he turned his life around with AIL. I am not sure with the tactic was, but he mentioned at least 30 times that he had been with the company since 2002 and that he has been there for over 10 years. He also mentioned that he had over 40 employees working there, but there was 5 at most. He also had some of his employees sit in on the meeting so that he could " reference " them when talking about the levels of management/pay scale. Byron continuously made horrible jokes, nothing inappropriate, just bad timing. In another setting, it would have been appreciated. But not after filling out a joke of a personality test and sitting through a presentation that would be more appropriate on a first day of training. He was gauging to see if people were laughing and eating up what he was saying.
At the end of the seminar, we were handed forms with pricing to pay for our insurance license.
Followed by an analogy comparing a hand shake agreement on becoming a part of the team ( upon a follow up interview ) to a marriage proposal.
If I man provides a woman with a ring, and she says " can I have the weekend to think about it, I have two more dates scheduled" do you think that man should still honour his proposal? If we bring you in for a follow up interview, and "shake your hand" and say welcome to the team, and you say " thank you for the offer, can I have some time to think about it" we now know that you are not the right fit for this company.
Byron Paz actually compared going on interviews to going on dates. And compared a wedding proposal to his hand shake agreement.
We were then given a exit questionnaire, to which I did not fill out and left as soon as the seminar was complete. If it wasn't so obvious to leave sooner, I would have.
This company has so many red flags, I don't even know where to begin.
They state to provide supplemental benefits and insurance to unions only. There has to be grey area and loop holes. I can't imagine what it took to become government regulated. There are VERY few locations in Canada, and I can see why, there is no possible way I would trust this company with my benefits and life insurance never mind want to work for this company.
