I was called in for a finalist interview in Atlanta last week at a restaurant at a hotel. I attended the meeting at the restaurant, but the interviewers wanted to conduct the interviews in the lobby of the hotel (after they had eaten it appeared). I met with the National Sales Director and the Sales Manager and I met with each of them separately for an hour each. The National Sales Director was very professional and appreciated the fact that I had put together a tangible 90 day action plan. After the hour was up, I met with the Sales Manager. Little did I know that my competition for the job was also waiting in the lobby to speak with the National Sales Director, so that was a little unexpected and unsettling.
When I met with the sales manager, he was dressed in an ill-fitting shirt and pants and did not look very professional at all. He stated that he wanted to conduct a "conversational" interview, but he appeared to get very defensive during the interview and more than once stated that he was looking for someone who could get new logo business because the territory was about 70% new business. I attempted to engage him in my skills and capabilities, but he appeared disinterested and distracted. I presented him with a 90 day action plan if were offered the position and he did not even look at it and said that he would go through it later. I asked about the next steps and asked for the job. The sales manager stated that they would be making a decision later that day and an offer presented early the following week. I have attempted to reach out to the Xerox recruiter a few days ago, but he has not even responded back to me that a hiring decision had been made and the position had since been removed from the Xerox website. Very unprofessional environment and it looks like I may have dodged a bullet based on some of the employee reviews on the Xerox organization. Although I felt like I was the better prepared candidate with a tangible 90 day action plan and solid references, I suspect that they made a lowball offer to the other candidate who appeared unprepared and would probably agree to work for a lowball salary.
