I applied for a Manager position online and was contacted by the Store Manager the next day. I was impressed (and a little flattered!) by the immediate response. The listing described a Store Manager position, so I was a little confused that a Store Manager contacted me as I assumed the store would only have one primary manager.
I arrived at the interview, completed the application and was led to the breakroom to meet with the Store Manager. She came in and introduced herself, then took an internal phone call and excused herself for 15 minutes. When she returned, she apologized; throughout the remaining 30 minutes of the interview, she answered 6 phone calls and left the room twice to work with associates.
The Store Manager had a list of questions she read to me and, as I responded, she wrote down my answers. Several times I found myself sitting in silence having thoroughly answered a question and having to wait while she wrote down my answer. She didn't appear to listen to my answers as she didn't ask any follow up questions or ask me to elaborate on anything I said.
When she was finished with her questions, she asked if I had questions. I asked about the position, stating I was confused as she appeared to be the Store Manager, yet I thought the store was hiring a Store Manager. She stated that, though the ad said "Manager," the position open was Service Supervisor, sort of a Floor Supervisor position. Had the ad stated this, I never would have applied for this position as it is below the level of management I am currently pursuing. I inquired as to why the position was open. She proceeded to tell me very personal information about the previous employee who was currently out on Family Medical Leave due to a family member's terminal illness. The Store Manager stated that she felt bad for the employee, but that the store needed to fill the position. I don't know much about FMLA, but I wonder if this is legal. At any rate, I was embarrassed to have heard so much personal info about someone I don't know who is clearly having a very difficult time.
My sense of the Store Manager's style was that she is a major micro-manager. The entire breakroom was papered with notes and signs in her handwriting telling employees what they should be doing better. The questions I heard her answer on the internal phone and to the staffers who interrupted the interview didn't seem to be issues that would have required the intervention of management were staffers properly trained.
Though flattered to have received such an immediate response and always happy to interview, I was not impressed by the attitude of store management and was certainly less than impressed by the deceitfully worded job posting. It is detrimental to both interviewer and interviewee to not properly explain the job and job title when posting a position. As stated above, had I known the position was mid-level management, I would not have wasted my time nor the time of the Store Manager.