I feel I have a moral obligation to share the Interview feedback with the general public. Had I been writing a book on the owner, I would’ve had enough material to write 2 books. However, I wasn’t there to write a book, I was there to be interviewed (final stage) for an Office Manager job, but instead arrived at “The Ranjiv show”.
The owner talked about himself for a total of 5 hours during two stages of the interview!! He spent every opportunity redirecting every conversation back to himself, just so he could talk about what he thought he knew about EVERY subject, sorry correction, what he claimed to be “matter of fact” on everything!!! What’s laughable is, when he ran out of things to brag about, he randomly bought up Obama, simply to tell me what he knew about his influence on brexit?? Why are we discussing Brexit in an interview? Big NO NO to discuss anything political in the office let alone in an interview. It was uncomfortable and very unprofessional and such a waste of my time. I felt pressured into agreeing with everything he was saying because of his tone and manner in which he asked me.
I am an experienced Sales and People Manager with 20 years of experience working for FTSE 250 companies. I have 1st class degree, yet he spoke to me like I was a 16 year old drop out from school.
The owner spoke for 2 hours in the 2nd stage interview and 3 hours in final stage, he took up all 5 hours talking about himself and how brilliant he was. He thought it was important to tell me what his views were on every subject which included Politics, Brexit, Sport, Immigration in the 70’s, Gandhi and wait for this.... he actually believed the travel habits of the WORLD ended after the 80’s!! He said and I quote “I did all my travelling in the 80’s that’s when it was popular, no one travels like they did back in the 80’s” basically dismissing the last 30 years where the travel industry tripled in revenue if not quadrupled!!
I have travelled to over 55 countries, yet he not once asked me about my passion for travelling, laughable when he owns a small travel company!! However now I know why he didn’t, it would mean his analysis above is a load of BS!!!
This man is blind and it’s sad because it looks like he is intelligent on paper, but he’s got zero insight, he’s too stubborn to listen to anyone or understand the simple fact that he’s not GOD!! He doesn’t know how to have a conversation because he’s not open to other opinions or views! Which is why he didn't interview me at all, he didn't ask me any questions, he just threw assumptions at me and kept asking if I agreed with his analysis!!
Correction he asked me one question, what time exactly do I have coffee in the morning, he needed to know if it was before I turned on the computer or after (no lie). He didn’t seem to think it was relevant that I said I would always come in to the office half hour before I was due to start, so why is it any of his business when I drank my coffee? This was a big wake up call that the owner has serious control issues. If he was going to try and micro manage me even before I’ve started work, what would he be like when I’m on the clock!! Let’s not lose sight of the fact I’m talking about drinking a cup of coffee in my own time!! .. this man not only needs to control “when” you drink coffee he questioned WHY I needed to drink coffee??! Someone needs to put a straight jacket on this man!
In under two hours, I realised I was dealing with someone with Zero people skills. Zero communication skills. Zero interview skills. Zero listening skills. Zero self awareness!! I left the interview feeling belittled, patronised and angry that he’d wasted so much of my time.