UNFI Interview Questions
& Process

I had a 30-minute pre-screen Zoom call with a recruiter who was late. The job was described as a program coordinator dealing with vendors, but they asked about my salary expectations, and my ask was mid-range, though they were budgeting less. They only offered 2 weeks of PTO plus holidays. The recruiter also asked why I left my last three jobs, which felt outdated. I moved to the next round with the department manager and recruiter (who was late again). The manager described the role as software support for the international sales department (30+ people) with a small team of 3, expected to support multiple software platforms. When I asked about company values and initiatives, neither employee, despite being there for about 10 years, could speak knowledgeably and deflected. This interview lasted almost an hour. A month after the interview, past the deadline, I got an email saying they were pausing the position to offer it to an internal contractor, but would call me if that didn't work out. I felt undervalued because UNFI didn't clarify duties and pay, and seemed to be looking internally. It was disappointing as I wanted to be part of their progressive initiatives.

This company leads people on. I had to do two interviews and a test, only to get rejected with a copy-paste made-up explanation that the job has been filled, while the job is still open on the company website. A complete waste of time. I was asked about my knowledge of Excel, which was NOT listed anywhere in the job description, and the test had a small Excel portion, again, why not list that Excel is needed for the job on the job description page? The role pays three dollars more than the minimum wage for what is essentially data entry with occasional calls. The number of interviews doesn't add up to the low-skill of the job.

This was a really strange interview. The salary range they posted was super wide, and I suspect they use it to trick candidates into accepting way less than they're worth. When they asked about my salary needs, I gave a reasonable number based on my experience, even though it was less than my last job. The recruiter then said she checked local salaries and I should expect to be at the lower end of their range, and they wouldn't pay more than a specific amount. This was despite my skills and experience. It seems they had a fixed budget in mind, so why advertise such a broad band? She then suggested I might be overqualified. I asked about more senior roles, but she said there weren't any. The very next day, I saw a management role open on the same team I applied for. I emailed the recruiter to see if I could be considered, but got no response. Even a 'no' would have been polite. It seems like professional courtesy goes out the window when they're not interested. I think my jaw dropping when she mentioned there would be seven interviews might have been the dealbreaker. I was applying for a mid-level role, not senior or executive! Seven interviews? Companies are getting out of control with these demands. I get that multiple interviews are necessary to meet different people, but seven is excessive. My initial hesitations about UNFI, based on reviews, were confirmed by this recruiter call.

I applied on Feb 19th and got an interview request that same day. The first interview was on Feb 22nd with a talent specialist over zoom, it was about 15 mins. It was a pretty easy and informative chat about why I was interested in the role and a bit about my background. The second interview was on March 5th with 2 SR managers, they asked some behavioral questions, nothing too crazy, just be sure to use the STAR method. I got the offer on March 18th. So, from application to offer, it was about a 4-week process.