The initial phone interview was pretty standard. The manager was pleasant and an engaging interviewer. When they called me in for the second round, they asked me 90% of the same questions I'd already answered over the phone. It threw me off guard, because I had done a lot of research about the company, and was prepared to interview competitively at a higher level after the callback. I never got the chance, because it was clear the management I interviewed with never read my resume nor touched base with the previous interviewer about what had already been covered. The only questions I hadn't been asked already were about "how" I got my previous jobs in luxury retail, and some digging about gossip and drama behind the scenes of those companies, which, yikes! I was so uncomfortable, because I as not prepared to badmouth a previous employer during an interview. It seemed like they were more interested in finding other jobs for themselves rather than staffing their understaffed store, which made me question what I was even doing there, to say the least. When I asked questions about Ref's sustainability practices, they struggled to answer, which was a huge eye-opener for me. Same when they suggested that I try some clothes on after the interview had concluded, which also struck me as unprofessional, especially so because I have an hourglass body and am not a super skinny "Ref Babe," although I fit in their straight sizes and have a ton of Ref clothes. After how short, disorganized, and unprofessional the in-person interview was, it was clear that the suggestion to try things on was more of a challenge than an invitation. It's unfortunate, but I saw Ref's true colours during this interview, and it seems like the whispers about this place being toxic, catty, and fauxgressive are accurate. Honestly ... bullet dodged.
