A Suit, Everyday
I had my in-person panel interview for the Leave of Absence Specialist position on Thursday. The organization is a large, faith-based non-profit. Very conservative and formal. Every person on the panel was wearing a suit. They don't even have casual Fridays. Bummer.
I like the hiring manager, but she speaks very slowly and is rather quiet. This made me fidget in my seat. I wanted to blurt, "spit it out, sister!" The other panel members included two peers of the position and a manager in charge of ADA issues.
I felt a bit like a country bumpkin. I mean, a manager (with a TEAM reporting to her) that only handles ADA issues? Holy crap, Batman.
We had covered the "technical" questions about leave laws during the phone screen so the in-person was all about fit. Most of the panel members seemed ignorant of how HR works in small and mid-sized companies. Their eyes would get big as I answered their questions and then they would ask the cutest clarifying questions.
I felt like I did ok on most of the questions but bombed a few. I have this bad habit of not preparing much for interviews. I like to shoot from the hip. Unfortunately, I sometimes end up shooting myself in the foot, or the eye, when I do this. I also forget people's names AND the question asked almost as soon as I hear them.
What else? Oh, yeah. Sometimes I ramble on. Shocking, yes?
They were just so...professional about everything. I like to show my personality in interviews; laugh and try to relate to people. They were all very pleasant but also very straight-laced. One thing that really turned me off is when it was my turn to ask them questions, they gave me very rehearsed and sugar coated answers. Every time I tried to peer under the rug ("Why do HR professionals leave the organization?") I would get some bullshit answer about how no one ever leaves because it is SO GREAT there.
Come on, people. I didn't fall off the turnip truck yesterday. You and I both know that is the worst answer ever.
I ended up cutting my questions for them short. I started to feel a little too warm and just wanted to get out of there. So, yeah, the end was a bit choppy.
I did like a lot of what they had to say: the benefits are killer, the pay is above average, there are tons of opportunities to move around or up, they have good systems/equipment, they have a structured onboarding program and a plan for training, plus they seem to get really good press on all manner of things from efficient operations to transparency of financials to being voted "best place to work for (pick a category)".
I honestly have no idea what they thought of me. I will send a thank you note and will see how it goes, but I'm not holding my breath that I am their best candidate.
8 comments:
Could you really work with people who don't have personalities?
Yeah, don't forget you should be assessing fit as much as they should. Would working with these people, in this culture, every day would drive you crazy and/or make for strained working relationships? But also, if it gets to the offer stage, I think you should insist on being given some real answers to the questions you were asking -- their answers are the equivalent of candidates who claim their biggest weakness is working too hard.
Rachel - I have enough personality of my own to go around. Just kidding. You bring up a good point. However, learning to be more reserved and less emotional at work might be good for me.
AAM - Very good points. Fortunately, my former-former boss knows a guy who worked in their HR a bit ago and is hooking me up with him. I hope to learn a lot from him about what "really" goes on.
If its the YMCA, run as far and hard as you can....
ES - Nope, not the Y.
"no one ever leaves because it is SO GREAT there. "
Wasn't that the story in "The Firm?"
If no one ever leaves, it's not a firm; it's a cult. People leave the Trappists.
Though it's true that at certain faith-based nonprofits, people like the treasurer sometimes leave because they've been convicted of embezzlement.
Is there a reason for having four people work on leaves of absence? That seems like a lot, and 4400 LOAs a year seem high for a 15,000-person outfit. Still, 4400/3 (I'm assuming the manager just...manages) comes to 29.3 leaves per specialist per week, with two weeks off to recuperate.
Do the requests have to be calligraphed and then sent to the Vatican?
CF: The Firm - yikes!
Dave: It would only actually be 2 people working LOA's. The 2 peers I mentioned are in the same department (have same manager) but they don't handle LOA's. The organization has a lot of employees in states that have their own leave laws above and beyond FMLA. This is one of the reasons for the large amount of LOA requests. That, and the fact that most of the employees are in a profession that is extremely stressful and has a high physical and mental burnout rate. Yay!
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