I recently finished a truly baffling and circuitous interview at BusPatrol. Given the role I applied for resided at the director level, the process included interviews with most of the executive leadership team. Although I was told there were only 2-3 rounds before reaching a decision, I ended up speaking with the Chief Executive Officer, President (numerous times), Chief of Operations, and Chief Growth Officer. The interviews included lengthy discussions on fit, background, duties and responsibilities, and a thoughtful take home assignment. Honestly, I really enjoyed all the conversations I had and the leadership team were mostly cordial and very thoughtful, with one notable exception detailed below.
In spite of receiving positive feedback that I was an excellent fit from everyone I interviewed with, the process stretched to over double the originally stated timeline. After over six hours of combined discussion spanning a month, the president of the company then requested yet another interview. I obliged, but he arrived over 20 minutes late, put me on hold at one point, then ended the call about 25 minutes early. During the call though, we were able to discuss all the immediate next steps during the first month on the job. He offered to call me again on Thursday or Friday for 15 additional minutes to address any questions I had, and I greatly appreciated the gesture. Unfortunately, this is where everything seemed to go off the rails.
I didn’t end up receiving the additional call, but the next day the recruiter finally asked me to provide references, indicating an end may be in sight. After providing them, I didn’t hear anything until I received a Zoom invite for 12:30 PM on Sunday from the president. I quickly informed him that I would be unable to attend during that time, but proposed two alternates on the same day. Apparently, lunch time on Sunday was the only free fifteen minutes he had for the next week and a half, forestalling the process for over another week at a minimum. I then asked what the purpose of the additional call was, and he clarified that it was yet just another interview. I decided to put my foot down and politely replied in a detailed message that I believed the company had enough information to make an informed decision, and reiterated how excited I was by the prospects of joining the team. After all the mutual effort over the past month, the only reply I got to this was “Ok. Thanks.” I’m truly mystified that simply pushing back on a 7th round was such a tremendous blow to his ego, signaling some very problematic maturity at the seniormost levels of the company. A respectful response could have been to simply explain why he felt the need for yet another interview at this stage (practically unheard of), but I guess he couldn’t muster it. When the recruiter called the next day to inform me they wouldn’t be moving forward with my candidacy, he mentioned the president had stated that I requested an additional panel interview with him and the chief of operations and that I had backed out of it suddenly. I’m dumbfounded by this inane and comical level of gaslighting.
In conclusion, it was incredibly disappointing to end a month-long saga on such a juvenile note. All the other interviews showed great promise, and I was sincerely impressed by the rest of the leaders’ earnest commitment to the company’s mission and where I could fit in to help them. Perhaps I dodged a bullet though as this degree of decision paralysis on a simple hiring decision indicates some troubling growing pains at the company. Maybe there’s a larger problem lurking behind the scenes at BusPatrol, and I hope it doesn’t jeopardize the company’s promise to protect child safety in the long run.
