Monday I got a job lead from a recruiter I know. I read through the job description, and it's a great fit for me. Even better, it's in a small town less than 10 miles from me, and the route there has no traffic. I applied Monday night through the company's online system, which was great. Tuesday night the regional HR guy called and did a brief phone interview. He then asked if I could come in today for interviews with him and the plant manager (who would be my boss). I of course said yes. This process gave me a great first impression of the company.
However, my first in person impression of the company was not so good. I pull into the parking lot, and it's in HORRIBLE shape. Big holes, cracks, etc. It's needs to be jackhammered up and completely repaired. What does this company do? They make CONCRETE. Not good.
I proceed into the lobby. I contact the HR person via phone, and he says he'll be down shortly (I had arrived early of course). I thought to myself "this place is a disaster". The clock didn't work. The end tables were all scratched and very dusty. Several of the ceiling tiles were missing, and more than one lightbulb needed replaced. Something green had dripped from one of the pipes in the exposed ceiling to the floor. Tiles were missing at the threshold of the entrance, and one of the door closers was broken. "Bad" was written on one of the electrical outlets. They had a phone list posted that visitors use to contact their desired person as there's no receptionist. The list was out of date as the person whom I would be replacing was still on there.
Now, had the hr person apologized about the condition of the building saying that repairs were pending, I'd have felt better. After all, my building is missing the ceiling and floors in many places due to our ongoing renovation, but we make a point to tell people that upfront. But not a mention was made of the poor repair of the area at this company. That tells me it always looks like this. I'd be embarrassed to bring a customer or potential employee into this area.
I was already pretty put off by this point. My interview went well with the HR guy, but based on the condition of the building and some things about the position, I knew it wasn't for me (even though the pay was very competitve). I went through the motions with the plant manager, if for no other reason as I hadn't interviewed in over a decade and thought the practice would be good. I obviously did well because the hr person had left me a message at home less than half an hour after I left. I called him back after I got home, and he wanted to know if I could come back again tomorrow. I nicely expressed that the position wasn't a good fit for me and asked to be removed from consideration. When he asked why I said "I'm trying to find a tactful way to say this. I found the condition of the building to be a bit offputting." He said he understood and appreciated my honesty. I told him between that and some of the details of the job I knew it wasn't for me. After this conversation, I still went ahead and sent a thank you e-mail to him and the plant manager for their time. Good manners are always necessary.
Had the parking lot and lobby been in better shape, might my view of the organization been better? Probably. The sad thing is the lobby could have been whipped into shape with a couple hundred bucks of supplies and a couple hours of time. The next time you go to work, look at your facility with a fresh eye. Even better, ask someone else to do the same. Then fix what's wrong. First impressions matter.
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