The interview was interesting, but not in a good way. I submitted my resume online and received an email the next day to set up a phone interview. On the day of the interview, the managing partner called me about 15 minutes late and told me that she didn't have my resume, so I had to tell her my background. I spent a few minutes speaking and then she went on to making sure that I understood what it meant to run a referral business, live on commission, etc. Her spiel was more about weeding me out than discovering what I could bring to the company. She even told me in so many words that the person that emailed me basically selects anyone with a Finance degree for consideration - in other words, the fact that I was contacted didn't mean that I was qualified.
Nonetheless, she set up a face-to face meeting; but after sitting through it I've resolved that she only met with me out of some kind of obligation. I was in the office about an hour and I don't remember her asking me much about myself or my background. She talked a lot, and she made it clear that they seldom hire people with no experience. Also, she spent an odd amount of time telling me how hard the licensing tests are (and expensive - she said that there were 9 classes at $900 a piece???); she then belittled my MBA studies (I guess to eliminate any confidence I had about easily passing the licensing tests) by saying, "You're going for an MBA - I found that to be quite easy, all you have to do is show up".
She did go through the motions of telling about the pay structure and the training. And, she obliged all my questions - I must say that I was very turned off when I realized her limiting views on building a business. But it was when I asked her if the training and position (which was advertised as self-employment with a flexible schedule) could be worked around my full-time job for now, and she perked up and told me "absolutely not" in the most excited, definitive, relieved tone I've ever heard from an employer declining a candidate that I knew I had just wasted an hour of my life.
That said, the MP was very nice on the surface. She smiled and laughed and told stories. But I'm good at reading into what people say and the more that meeting sank in, the more I wished I would have been more outspoken and called her out on the mess she threw at me. I assume that not everyone will have the experience I had and that when presented with a candidate she wants her approach will be more welcoming. But for me, I was just left wondering, "what was that?"
