I was contacted by an absolutely incredible recruiter who took a lot of time with me. Phone interview with UniFirst was just to make sure you're not a weirdo. In-person interview met with General Manager and Sales Manager for approx. 50 minutes. Very standard interview just went over my resume in detail and answered a few other questions (typical "what would you do if" or "tell us about a time when"). After leaving, I stopped to get lunch and they called before I'd even finished my sandwich to schedule a time to talk to the Regional Sales Manager. That was a 10 minute phone call and I received an offer later that day. This was shockingly fast compared to all other interviews I've ever had. The only hold up was that some of my references weren't available immediately and they paused the process until they'd heard back from all of them. I think I eventually had to call one to get them to call back urgently - UniFirst was holding steady and wouldn't settle for 3 out of 4. Either way, nothing weird, nothing stupid, no "gotcha" questions or riddles. A very straight forward and fast interview.

The interview process was extensive and involved multiple stages. I first interviewed with a recruiter, followed by a virtual interview with the sales manager. That was then followed by an in person interview with the sales manager and the plant GM, which included delivering a PowerPoint presentation. After that, I completed a final interview with the regional sales manager via Teams. Approximately 30 minutes after the final interview, the recruiter called to express strong enthusiasm about extending an offer and mentioned awareness that I had another offer pending. I was transparent about the competing offer from a direct competitor and was told the sales manager would follow up the next day. During that follow up call, the offer was withdrawn, with the explanation that they could not come close to the competing compensation. There was no opportunity for discussion or negotiation, which was surprising given the role was a sales position and the job posting referenced competitive pay. Overall, the process took approximately two weeks and required me to take time off work to attend the in person interview. Given the outcome, the time investment did not feel respected. Based on my experience, I would recommend clarifying compensation alignment earlier in the process to avoid similar situations for future candidates. It seems like their concern is not with quality sales reps. It's with who they can pay the lowest amount.