This was the weirdest interview I've ever been to, full of red flags.
The interview took place on the bench outside the store, despite the fact that it was incredibly cold and raining intermittently, and barely lasted more than four minutes.
I was interviewed by Martha, the company owner, but it felt as if I was interviewing her, for she hardly had any questions for me, aside from 'When can you start?'. When I answered 'March', she seemed taken aback, saying she was looking for someone to start immediately, despite the fact that it was already mid February so she'd only have to wait two weeks.
However what I found most alarming was their shift patterns. I asked about their shift patterns and was told '7am until whenever we finish. Could be an 8 hr shift or 12 hr shift, but we've always done it this way and it balances out, works fine.' But when I asked for an average I was told an 8hr shift was a minimum so it seems "balancing out" means consistently working more than 8hrs. I spoke to a former employee and she confirmed this, stating she often worked from 7am till 9pm and would never be able to make evening plans as she never knew when she'd finish. Most other bakeries that start early tend to finish as early, around 4 or 5pm.
I was contacted for an interview after sending in my CV a few months ago but it seemed they didn't even have a clear role for me to step into. I asked about the role and was told ' Full time or part time. Mostly baking, but also a bit of decorating, a bit of front of house. You'll be doing a bit of everything.'
She said they care less about the amount of experience and more about the type of person but did not ask a single question about me and the only comment she had about my CV, website and Instagram was 'Yeah, I had a look.' There was no sense of excitement or enthusiasm from her at all to inspire me to work there and I sent her an email declining the trial shift as soon as I left.
