Apparently DataPath’s req got picked up by third party staffing agencies, who made up salary ranges, so I put a resume in based on fictitious salary range (still reasonable for the position but DataPath never did give me a salary range). I did a phone interview with a hiring manager and then the recruiter arranged for me to fly out for an in person interview. I thought a small company might be an interesting change so I decided to check them out. From the time I submitted a resume to the time I was interviewed was less than three weeks (I was impressed by that). I flew into Atlanta and then drove the 35 miles to a hotel in Duluth for the interview the next day (oddly enough DataPath didn’t cover the cost of the rental car but said they said would reimburse me, never experienced that before). I got there half an hour early, they started the interview half an hour late and the whole interview process basically collapsed within an hour, they couldn’t keep to the schedule, they kept me waiting while the recruiter would hunt down the scheduled interviewers, they didn’t ask many questions during the interview and did a terrible job of answering questions (blank stares from senior management is NEVER a good sign). At no point during the interview process did anyone even try to make a case for me to join DataPath, they all just sort of rambled on about how Rockwell Collins cratered the company when they owned them, the fact that they were owned by a private equity firm now, the need to “wear many hats” in this organization, their vague path forward, growing the business….at one point someone did tell me that there was some kind of incentive plan for the position but they didn’t explain it well. It was probably the most unprofessional and disorganized interview experience I have had in my career. I knew going in that it probably wasn’t a fit but…....these guys weren’t even trying.
I knew when I walked out that there was no offer I would accept and, as it turns out, I didn’t need to worry about it. I received a very polite rejection letter from the recruiter the next business day (no word on rental car reimbursement though, I guess I get stuck with that). Overall it wasn’t really a waste of time; after a few hours with these guys, I came away with a much deeper appreciation of my current position and employer.