Tuesday, May 8, 2012

First Interview

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.

2 comments:

  1. Rebby Sutherland:
    • Has paid for 2 abortions in her offices (Could be more now)
    • Slept with Jimmy Rothermel, Ken Lear, Ed Cunliffe, and many many more
    • Cydcor had to pay her bills, help her out because she couldn’t cut it in NYC
    • Told everyone that Kirk Bevington is an alcoholic.
    Important questions:
    • Jeremy Roubelet (Minnesota kid) won consistency manager of the year in 2012??? He had to get a loan from John Wiggins. Does this sound fair???
    • Europe?? are they going to Europe?? Also, they already HAVE b2b offices there.
    • When I started, Cydcor had under 300 offices. Its 2013, they still have under 300 offices. Is there any more growth??
    • “Get to 100 offices” – who has over 100?? John and Brandie. WOW, impressive. 100% not impressive.
    • The $3 million pot - the purpose is to keep offices around for a big pay day. It’s to help offices stay open since Cydcor isn’t growing
    • Cydcor – Canada. You guys get the shaft and it’s not fair. Jim Majeski was asked “why doesn’t Canada Promoting Owner get a car” Jims response: if they were relevant they could
    • Jim and Gary were never in the field, never knew how important this way. They look at it as a business and people like stock. They don’t care about you and anyone besides their profit. If they did, owners and reps would make more.
    • Retail will never work, Smart Circle will always be #1 in this space and Cydcor is wasting their time. Why are you still doing this???
    • Where are the clients??? They have had the same clients for 7, 8, 9, 10 years……
    • How many more owners can you CRAM in a small market due to lack of clients and lack of larger cities?
    • Why are clients using the smaller vendors and why is Cydcor losing market share?? Because Cydcor isn’t the best anymore and Cydcor has bullied people around for too long.
    • I have seen vendors open countries with a flick of a wrist, why hasn’t Cydcor?? No money?? No Clients?? No confidence?? No game?? Scared??
    • Why does Jaime Hepp have MORE MONEY than any consultant??


    Sexual misconduct:
    • Brandie and John Wiggins slept together back in the day (obviously)
    • Jim and Vera have had a divorce
    • Shaine Thurman cheated on his wife in Vegas
    • Ed Cunliffe cheated on his wife Vegas (massage parlor)
    • Pedro Segura cheated on his wife
    • Wiggins, too many to list

    This is 100% the truth from my experience while in Cydcor. Everything I am stating I saw with my own eyes or have been told by people who did.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I stopped this blog because I got lost in the coolaid for a while, and then never got back to it, but the my experiences deserve some more press!

      I'll back on it at some point

      Delete