Five intereviews. One day. Mostly canned corporate questions intended to make you feel uncomfortable and betray your weaknesses. This was probably not the fault of the interviewers, but rather, a corporate requirement. It was disconcerting, actually.
I was asked why I wanted to work at Whirlpool and, among other things, I cited their HRC rating and commitment to human rights. I’m gay, and decided to let my queer out at this interview and see if Whirlpool is really as queer-embracing as they make themselves out to be.
One interviewer canceled, so I asked to reschedule the next day ad extended my stay in St. Joseph at my own expense. One seemed resentful she had to interview me. One was remarkably human and affable and turned out to be the only one to respond to my follow-up emails. Two invited questions, but then ignored me after interview, at which I knew there was no chance they would hire me. Thanks for the warning, gals!
I wondered if this was because I’m queer or if everyone gets treated with equal rudeness. Hmm. Do corporations really have “values?” I guess they are just people after all. I did dig that Maytag Man gay cake ad, however.
I received a survey that asked about the interview process that included: Did you receive a gift after interview? No. Would you buy an appliance from Whirlpool. No. (I was holding off on my refrigerator purchase until this process was completed. ;-))
Whirlpool compensated me for road time and paid for the first hotel night, but not the second. This is better than most companies, and I really appreciated it.
The rejection letter I received was odd and made no mention of me (my profile was rejected): “We reviewed your profile and determined that currently it doesn't meet the desired requirements for well rounded mix of journalism and corporate communications experience.” Referring to my “profile” when, in fact, my real-live self interviewed, was distancing, abstract, and odd, to say the least. There was no mention of an interview, nor a thank you for hauling my gay behind to St. Joseph. The ad that I applied to mentioned neither of those things (I saved it). “Social media” and “storytelling” were among the qualifications. I’m a published writer and social media manager and I do have corporate experience, which came up in the interviews.
Overall, everyone was polite in person, but the follow-up snubs on my questions were insulting. You would think that people who work in social media and do PR would be at their best. Again, people are people. Someone at Whirlpool did do a good job of trying to put together an impressive interview process, but several people dropped the ball, including HR in that final letter. I’ll focus on those who were kind and professional—throughout the process, and I’m now even more interested in how HRC scores/evaluates companies.
After writing this, I got wind they had an internal candidate. If this is true, it was a waste of my vacation time…