Joy Interview Questions
& Process

This was an awful and unprofessional interview experience. The office environment seemed miserable from the start, with unfriendly and tense reception staff. The interview with the CEO was a disaster; he seemed completely unprepared, unaware of the role's requirements, and was incredibly rude. During our 35-minute meeting, he took four phone calls, yelled at staff members multiple times, and constantly interrupted me. He didn't ask about my experience but instead claimed I wasn't a specialist despite my 10 years in ecommerce, and questioned my previous salary, stating my last employer overpaid me. He didn't allow me to ask any questions about the role or company. He asked inappropriate personal questions about my husband and his background. When I mentioned interviewing elsewhere (as he had asked), he launched into a rant about trust and NDAs, and stated his primary requirement for this role was a "little black book" of suppliers he could use. Amidst rambling and inappropriate questions, he also ranted about politics and demanded detailed business processes from my previous role. I should have left early on, but I stayed, and immediately withdrew my application upon leaving. HR did not follow up, which I suspect is common.

I saw a job for style assistants and asked about it in the store. They said I could email my CV or drop one off, but I didn't have one then so I emailed it the next day. Just 20 minutes after I sent it, I got an invite for an interview! Later that week, I went to the interview. It was with the Assistant Manager, who was really nice. She had a whole questionnaire ready with more questions than I expected. She asked about my availability, past experience, and about my CV. It felt really relaxed, more like a chat. The staff made me feel comfortable and confident. I got offered the job over the phone a few days later!

I applied on Friday and got a call Monday morning for an interview. The office was nice but quiet with a bad vibe. The interview was okay, but the manager couldn't make it so a colleague interviewed me instead. They clearly didn't care who they hired! I was asked a few questions about competitors and customer identification. Then, I had to do a project over the weekend, creating six in-store event ideas in a PDF. I spent a lot of time on it and was super disappointed to never hear back. A rejection email, even a generic one, would have been the least they could do. It felt very unprofessional, and I guess it's a good thing I didn't get the job.

This interview process was really something else. The first interview went for 2.5 hours. I met the head of wholesale, who seems nice but stressed, and a menswear designer. The CEO spent a lot of time asking off-topic questions and made me feel uncomfortable, trying to get info about my old company's business plan and seemed to want to psycho-analyze me, even calling me 'silly' early on. He told me to think about the role and prepare to negotiate, even offering a drink. I felt weird but thought I'd get an offer. Then I found super negative Glassdoor reviews, so I was wary going into the second interview. I waited 30 minutes in reception, where everyone seemed grumpy. I met the interviewer's wife, who helps design and seemed nice. Then I met with him again for what I thought was negotiation, but he offered less than my current salary, saying he'd pay bonuses 'under the table' to avoid tax. When I questioned this, he laughed and called me naive. He mentioned paying for a previous employee's honeymoon but wouldn't put anything in writing. After another 2.5 hours, I said I'd only continue if I got a written offer with basic details. It felt like they want to get as much as possible for as little pay. They'll promise stuff but it seems like a con if it's not in writing. He wouldn't even email a basic offer. His PA asked me back for a third chat, but I ignored it after a lot of calls and texts from the interviewer. I don't want to waste more time with this business. Be ready for him to be aggressive and disagree with everything to get a reaction.