to give a little bit more context, i was applying for the position of human resources director at a small company that provides in-home care for senior citizens. i have a masters degree in criminal justice, a bachelors in psychology, great references, and i have been working at the same company with great reviews since 2017. i also have over a year of experience in human resources with my current company. what put me off was a few things:
no one smiled or greeted me when i walked in. both the receptionist and another employee looked at me like i was in the wrong place and when i announced my name and that i was here for the interview, the receptionist still really didn't speak to me, she just handed me a packet of papers on a clipboard to fill out.
when i looked through said packet it was a detailed application. four pages long. all of the same information that was on my resume. it would have taken at least 20-30 minutes to complete depending on how detailed i got with my answers. this included a form that asked whether or not i would like to receive direct deposit and other things related to POST-employment. this was odd to me because it made me feel like this was the type of company that routinely hired ANYONE for those caregiver positions. why would we even be addressing something like how i was to be paid yet? there was no offer on the table for me to accept.
basically i imagined myself spending an hour doing all of this work to be offered a very low wage. honestly it did have a lot to do with the “bad vibe” i got from the office. i filled out the first page while i thought about the circumstances and then just politely told the receptionist that i had decided to cancel the interview, and thanked her for her time.
should i have stayed and spent that time investing in the company's ease of hiring me without any idea of what kind of offer i would have gotten? i just feel like it already screams that they do not respect an employees time.