When I was called to come in for this interview, they asked a few questions about my availability, read the official job description to me and confirmed whether I was still interested in the position. They also said they "wanted to make sure" that I understood the pay rate and part-time nature of the position.
It was mostly fairly straight forward for the most part. I went in, met with the Store Manager in the break room area. They Store Manager had a list of questions printed out (not sure if they were mandated or self chosen), but they were all pretty typical things trying to figure out my comfort level with animals, my instincts and experience in customer service, strengths and weaknesses, availability, ability to do the physical portion of the job, and career aspirations. It went downhill when we began to discuss career aspirations. The interviewer seemed very concerned about the fact that this job was "below" my experience, having previously held Store Manager level positions for a number of years. They were quite aggressive in trying to determine why I would even apply for the position. Feeling cornered, I felt I had to disclose that my father had been diagnosed with cancer and I was looking for a highly flexible job, part-time job so that I could assist with his care.
After this, I was given the opportunity to ask any questions I might have about the position. I asked several. First, I asked about what benefits were available, to which I was rather shortly informed that the only benefit available to part-time associates was an employee discount. I then asked about long-term advancement opportunities, stating that it would likely be more than a year before I'd even be able to consider taking on more than the limited hours currently on offer. The manager hemmed and hawed a bit on this one, then pointed out that all of her current leadership positions had been held by the same people since the store's opening and that likely, they would not be becoming available at any point in the near future. So, I then asked about opportunities at other locations and transfers (I had moved to this area from out of state to come back to help my father, so long-term, I would have been open to leaving the area entirely) and she basically stated that this "doesn't really happen."
At the end of the interview, she told me that she'd be making her decision in the next few days. I left with the distinct impression that I would not be getting the position given her serious opposition to my experience and her seeming belief that I'd be gone soon. I was quite surprised when she called me two days later to offer me the position.
