I got a call for my First Interview within a week of submitting my resume. It was clearly from a secretary type, and she asked me come in on a Friday with my resume dressed in business/casual attire.
She also asked me if I had any other questions about the place before I came in, and I basically told her that I had no real idea of what the business was up to, except that it had something to do with sales. The response I got was basically her reading back the Craigslist ad to me which wasn't too helpful, and a little worrying.
I got a follow up email a couple of days before the scheduled interview which also sent some alarm bells ringing. First of all, it was addressed to more than just myself, and, secondly, it again stipulated a dress code. As most professionals know, you ALWAYS dress smart for an interview, especially if those interviewing you are involved in more traditional business practices. This message told me that any number of people were being invited at once, that many of them were expected to be from a variety of backgrounds possibly with no experience. I somewhat cheekily mailed them back to confirm that it wasn't a group pitch type of interview, where I would be asked to sign up for something (I've been there before...), and that I would actually receive some individual attention. I got an affirmative response, so I decided to go along anyway, despite warnings from friends that it might be a waste of time.
When I arrived for the interview some of my suspicions were raised even higher. The office itself was drab looking, and in a somewhat remote part of town. The office was filled with people in a variety of outfits, from shabby shirts and odd coloured ties, to guys in sharp suits looking just as a puzzled as me, along with a mish mash of rag-tag furniture which looked like it had all come from salvation army or someone's great aunt's cottage. I signed in, took my seat, and waited patiently for what I was fearing would be a waste of my time.
I observed that these interviews were flying by pretty fast; people were getting 10min max with young looking slick stick kind of guy with a loud mouth in a perma-smile who looked something like the classic car salesman you see every now and then in Family Guy. He was interviewing in a room that had a big window facing the lobby of the office, so we could all see his back and the nervous faces of all the prospectives sitting in the chair opposite.
My turn came up, and I stepped into the office feeling like I was probably going to do well given my experience, and also that I was probably going to hear things I didn't like. The interview was swift, and it focused on some brief details of what they were selling, what my experience was, and why I left my previous job. I felt like the interview was assuming the least out of prospective clients in that it was basic and undemanding. The only tricky point was discussing why I was currently out of work, which was because I had been fired, but I handled it well because I had good reasons and a solid reference to back it up. I got a bit of a stare-down for that, but otherwise it seemed pretty easy going. It was a lot of nodding, agreeing, and so I left with a relatively high level of expectation that I would make the second round of interviews, and that I could probably do whatever they had in mind with the right instruction.
Still, I had very little idea of the product except for a name, so I went home intent on doing my homework to try and keep ahead of the pack should I be considered for round two.
Sure enough, I got a call the following Monday saying I had been invited back for a second interview, which was to consist of me spending a full day shadowing a current employee from 8:30-4:30 so I could get a feel for things, and so they could check me out properly in the field. I still had very little idea of what the hell was going on, but I had nothing else to do so I agreed to go along and check it out.
