F. Schumacher & Co. Interview Questions
& Process

It was a casual group interview with HR, the Owner, and other Managers. We were in a factory setting, using a conference room. The parking situation and the neighborhood were a bit sketchy. The environment was casual, but there was a strong chemical smell on the second floor from the dyes used for wallpaper.

The interview process started well but ended badly. I initially had a phone interview with Schumacher's talent acquisition team, where I was informed about the process and scheduled a 30-minute meeting. I mentioned I was comfortable with the $60k salary for the role, but the recruiter encouraged me to aim for $75k, which sounded promising since I was overqualified. Next, I had a smooth phone interview with a director, who spoke highly of me. I then met with the hiring manager via video call, where the meeting went well, and I was told I'd be invited for a final interview by the end of the month. HR kept in touch and things seemed to be progressing quickly. However, I was later informed by email that I wasn’t selected. This was confusing, as the hiring manager had indicated I was moving forward. I emailed back for feedback and CC’d the hiring manager but received no response. Even after a follow-up email, I got no reply. It’s frustrating to be ghosted after what seemed like a positive process, especially in a small industry.

The interview process back in December 2018 was quite a lengthy and messy affair, honestly. I ended up going through 5 interviews over a two-week period, and surprisingly, most of the interviewers weren't even going to be my direct managers or connected to my store. I found out later that even the CEO gave the thumbs up for hiring me. Then, I had to wait another two weeks for them to get back to me. They didn't mention upfront that there would be so many interviews. The main things they kept asking about were my ability to work on my own in a demanding, fast-paced setting, how well I can collaborate and take direction, my personal traits, my creative side, and my customer service approach. They also probed into my long-term goals and how this role fit into my five-year plan, which felt like a lot for this type of position. While this might be standard for really well-paid jobs now, I found it totally over the top and a waste of time for a retail job that didn't even require sales experience and was only minimum wage part-time. They presented a list of qualifications that, in my view, didn't align with the job's actual needs or the pay offered. When I first asked about the pay in the initial interview, stating I needed at least $15 an hour, they gave me a vague response during the interviews. It's been a few years, and I've since learned a lot more about how interviews should work and what questions to ask, and I can now spot poor management practices.

I had 3 interviews in total, and 2 of them went pretty well. The 3rd one, which was yesterday, I only got about a week and a half notice for, and they asked me to do it on short notice too. The HR person who set it up didn't even seem to know the interviewer, and didn't give me any context about his role or history with the company. He also didn't do any intro or small talk before handing it over. As soon as I said my name and asked how things were going, he just jumped right in without any intro or asking about me or my background. The very first thing he asked was 'Why Schumacher?', and his tone, body language, and the way he asked questions made me feel like he was really disgruntle. He didn't ask any technical questions, or anything about my past jobs or experiences. It felt like he didn't even look at my resume, and just asked a bunch of opinionated questions.