Because Job Interviews Go Both Ways
Oooh. I haven’t done a “Taking Over the World” post for a long time. If you came here from the social media links, the short version is:
- I applied for a job
- Interviewer turned up 45mins late
- They ghosted me afterwards, so I assumed I didn’t get the job
- 3 months later, they spontaneously called me to offer me the job
- No apology for ghosting me, but told me I was the best candidate
- I said No, Thanks – and he hung up on me
Now, other Red Flags indicated this would be a toxic workplace. And as much as I would have loved the role, I am comfortable enough in myself to know that this would have been a bad choice. Yet, the current work and social environment would make me look ungrateful for knocking back a job where they (and I quote) “truly appreciate how skilled and beneficial” I would be to the team.
Shout out to the plethora of social media content that shows a younger generation with the confidence to say no to this BS. Here’s my story, and here’s how I shared it with my spawnlings. Here’s how we avoid toxic workplaces and support younger workers in avoiding them, too.
Prologue
So, how did I find myself in this situation in the first place? 2024 was a chaotic year. Let’s be honest: It’s been chaotic since 2018, but 2024 was a bit much. I was starting to lose some motivation for writing and began to look for ways to revitalise it.
In July 2024, an opportunity came up to demo games in person for Games Australia/VR Distribution at Play Con. For two days, I was demo’ing Dragonkeepers and having an absolute blast! The game is cute (review to come), the people were friendly, and I encouraged a few purchases. It was a fantastic couple of days, and I realised what I was missing: talking with fellow gamers about games. I missed the physical interaction of matching people to the perfect game, which I greatly enjoyed about PAX Australia.
In October 2024, a job ad appeared in the window of one of my local game shops: Christmas Casual. I wasn’t actively looking for a job at this point, but I thought this opportunity aligned with my realisation at Play Con. I applied and thought, “Well. Let’s see what happens.”
The Interview
I was offered an interview in early November. To be honest, I had no great expectations from the job interview. I’m over 40 years old and applied for a retail/customer service role with minimal experience in this particular role for many years. However, I have excellent communication skills, proven sales experience, and an extensive understanding of the tabletop game industry.
The interview was… concerning.
For starters, when I introduced myself at the store, the solo store attendee had no idea who I was or why I was there. To make it worse, she was this store’s owner and manager; my interviewer’s name matched the manager of a ‘sister store’ who had offered to help her with staffing issues. Oh, and he wasn’t there. In fact, he didn’t turn up for about 45 minutes and was unreachable on his mobile phone during that time. But we’ll come back to that.
She shared some details about the role with me while trying to call him. Small business with busy periods leading up to the Christmas Shopping period. They were looking for someone responsible enough to manage the store solo for large periods of time. However, she wouldn’t share how much the wages would be or the number of hours available. She asked if I had any game experience, which I shared. She also asked me to pick out a game and give a 2-minute pitch. I chose Catan because it was right behind her head. She replied with, “Oh. I’ve never played that and didn’t realise it was so competitive.”
By this stage, I offered to walk around the area and wait another 15 minutes for the interviewer to turn up. During this time, she would try calling him again. After 30 minutes from the original interview time, I returned to the store and said, “I hope nothing serious happened. Surely, this is an unusual situation and must be a concern for you. Could you please call me later today and arrange another interview for during the week?” At this point, she finally received a text from the interviewer, saying he was on his way and asking me to wait 15 more minutes.
He had slept in and forgotten the interview.
Looking back, I should have said no and left right then. But again, I was interested in the role and how much I could enjoy it, so I waited.
When he finally showed up, it was almost the same as my initial chat with the store owner. He picked a game for me to pitch for a 2-minute period (which ended up being Catan again), asked me about my gaming experience, and then told me about the store’s solo running but no other details. He promised to call me during the week with an update.
And I never heard from them again.
Three Months Later
No big deal; I’m okay with being ghosted. Maybe they were embarrassed about their performance during the interview because I definitely came out of it thinking this job would be risky. The lack of professionalism was not exactly a selling point for me. In fact, it gave a very strong “you will most likely end up managing the place but not be the actual manager” vibe. I genuinely moved on and forgot about it.
Until I received a call from the interviewer. Three months later. No precursor, no follow-up from me. Just a random call asking if I was still interested in the role. I asked, “Is this the same role I interviewed for in November 2024?” Yes, it was.
Now, I would still love the role. It’s retail, customer service, and not high-level management. In my head, it still sounds like fun, and money is always a good thing. But I had questions.
“Um, no one called me back after the last interview. As in, no communication at all. Can you please tell me what has changed and why no one called me back?”
Well, we only had limited roles available, and now we have a new vacancy, and clearly, you were at the top of our list of candidates.
“That’s great, and thanks for the compliment. But that doesn’t explain why no one called me back to let me know the response to the last interview.”
Well…uh, we had limited roles available.
“Again, that doesn’t explain why no one called me back to let me know. You ghosted me.”
Well, the role is available now. Are you interested?
Okay, kids. This is where we say No. If a potential employer does not respect your time during an interview, nor calls you back after the interview, nor admits to their lack of professionalism during a second interview, they will not respect you as an employee.
Dodging the Toxic Workplace Bullet
The current social environment is sending some mixed messages about employment stats. For example, we are constantly hearing about how low unemployment is. That’s great…until you realise how many jobs some people need to survive. For example: Rent in Sydney is so high, you cannot afford to live alone with a single moderate wage. Either you are sharehousing or finding a second job (including side hustles). Most families cannot afford to live on single incomes without financial assistance, especially when that assistance goes straight to child care, after-school care, or other family support. More young adults are living with their parents for longer than previous generations, sometimes providing an additional income to the household.
Unemployment figures are explicitly skewed to anyone looking for their first and only job. They do not consider anyone looking for a second job necessary to provide in our current ‘cost of living’ crisis.
Add to this the current generational divide in the discussion about workplaces and ‘cost of living’. Boomers and older Gen X conservatives have been whinging about what they call “quiet quitting” from younger generations. I say, GOOD FOR THEM! As a younger Gen X/Xennial, I have had enough of my workplace expectations where managers think I should give more than my job description for less than my wage to prove how much I deserve the job.
Yeah, that’s pretty damn toxic. And I’m glad to see younger generations are calling that BS out.
As much as I would love this role in a game shop, it had all the signs of a toxic workplace. I would never want my spawnlings working there–and trust me, they could have done the job very easily (including the store management) for half the wage I would cost. But in doing so, they would have had no respect from the owner/manager, no balance between school and work (and personal life), and no sense of self-value because of how they are treated at work.
Yet thousands of people who desperately need the job will tolerate their boss’s bad behaviour. Why? Because they need to. This is a horrible power imbalance, and we continue to nurture it when we don’t call out toxic behaviour.
Gone are the days when you must take a toxic role to gain experience for a better role. Or at least they should be. I still remember when Article Clerkships were the only way to start your legal career: full of abusive hours for less than minimum wage. No wonder so many of us dropped out. Trade apprenticeships were the same. Both have significantly improved, but it depends more on your manager’s ability to avoid systemic abuse and expectations.
I feel for the person who ends up in the game shop. I hope they have a more vigorous constitution and can protect themselves. I hope they hold on to their self-worth and remember they are worth more than their workplace. Most of all, I hope they make the role work for them, and use the experience to move on to better things. There are definitely good managers out there. Job interviews are meant to help us find them as much as they help them find us.
The good side is that I’m motivated to write again—more than reviews and more about real life. Stay tuned, and thanks for reading.
Categories: Taking Over the World
Evil Genius Mum
Evil Genius Mum
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