Alaska Structures Interview Questions.

I was with Alaska for a time here in the Las Cruces, NM office and I know you by name and reputation. Surely, you mean that only an AKS'er would "believe" it is not a true statement. I think the facts would show that all the whacky sales efforts in the Kirkland office don't result in any significant sales numbers. The real business is ALL military being handled by a few grown-ups outside "the office". The office is just an overhead expense item intended to provide an atmosphere conducive for the cult's inner circle to feed on the stress, humiliation, and exhaustion of lesser beings.

-they love to pretend that their sales come from "car ports" ha ha ha.

A simple day of research and calls will show you that they make their money from paying people off in DC. They are handed military contracts from paid off officials...like little babies are handed bottles. This is not hard work. They made a lot of money when Bush was president...a lot.

it is very similar to a unisex version of Stepford Wives.

""A simple day of research and calls will show you that they make their money from paying people off in DC. They are handed military contracts from paid off officials...like little babies are handed bottles. This is not hard work. They made a lot of money when Bush was president...a lot.""

I hate to bust your bubble, but the die was cast for AKS during the Clinton years including a $30M Small Shelter contract in 1998, followed on by a $100M Medical Shelter contract around 1999 or so. After those two contracts, where AKS margins may have exceeded 60%, the shelter buying process was turned over to DynCorp, who has probably bought $10-30M per year ever since in parts and replacements, again at very high margins. So as much money as AKS has given to politicians over the last few years, this is not where there maney has come from. IMHO, the reason they have been giving money is that they are hoping to get earmarks for thier BLU-MED shelters for local disaster preparation. I don't know if they got any $$ from the stimulus, but time will tell. Bottom line is thier money did not come from Bush or Darth Cheney and you must be a silly MSNBC liberal to jump to that conclusion.

The other important point is none of these sales were generated using the CEO's revolutionary sales techniques. They wrote proposals, bid the contracts, smoozed the Governement decision makers, and won the contracts, I'd say more or less fair and square. They never insulted the Government, and never ask us endless lists of pointless questions. They were the ones answering questions...Lot's of questions.

Here is some insight on how BigDaddy treats people:

He hired an executive level financial expert, whom came into his organization and made him money with investment advice, then predicted the bank crisis and reorged his cash so it was safe - and after all of that - he told her she doesn't have any business sense - and put a 25 year old kid over her as her manager who proceeded to direct her around like she was 12. All because he thought it was funny.

She walked out on him. On the spot.

Mind you, this is a person with decades of experience, with a stint managing cash for PepsiCo, and a Masters in business from Pace. This is an analyst with a proven track record, whom cut her teeth in New York City. She did nothing but work hard and show her expertise - that is her crime.

Prior to being at AKS - this person got WaMus wall street rating raised right before the melt down by finding some wiggle room in the rating system and doing the analysis and then successively pushing for an upgrade - she is a genius.

Richard and kids told her she knows nothing and treated her like pond scum, at one point he was screaming at her over the phone and we had a scene at my house because I was on my way to confront the man, and she convinced not to do anything after a huge row over it.

He kept messing with her by calling her in on Saturdays and it ripped our family apart because we got in huge arguments because I wanted to confront him and she begged me daily not to.

What's worse, because she rightfully walked out on him, he purposely destroyed another business relationship that she was indirectly involved in. With malice - with intent to do harm.

The man is a control freak, who will eventually screw over anyone and everyone he feels threatened by. Basically it goes like this - the day you disagree with him or the day you do something he doesn't like, he puts you on his list, holds a grudge, and then waits for the best opportunity to do you the most harm.

I have not worked there but I do think it is a game and that they interview and recruit people just to play with them like a cult and then bully them if they cannot be brain washed and do not sing Mary Had A Little Lamb in the correct key and having worked in California, I can tell you now if they were based in California their little games would cost THEM a fortune. But what really worries me is those who are playing the game and do not know they are playing it. I am worried for their mental health.

truthaboutaks in Kirkland, Washington said: Here is some insight on how BigDaddy treats people: He hired an executive level financial expert ~~ SNIP ~~

Hi truthaboutaks,
Your story about your friend is very typical. It is like Pol Pots' Year Zero in there where skills and experience count for nothing. Tell your friend to read up on cults on the internet and it is an experience that you just have to cope with and eventually get over it. I'll admit I was pretty much traumatized by the experience, but several things have helped me if I may relay them here.

1.) Only intelligent talented people struggle at AKS. For some reason, the slow and dim witted seem unaffected. Your friend will be much better off with others who are smart and accomplished.

2.) Think back over the whole episode and try to pinpoint when the first realization was that you were working with sociopaths. For me, it was before I even started. I'll bet your friend knew it too. Take it as a lesson and next time LISTEN to that little voice. I am not saying to blame yourself, but you do need to find a way to be able to take responsibility for allowing yourself to fall into such a situation. By taking responsibility, you realize your life is in YOUR control, and you do not need to live under the memory of their treachery.

3.) Realize that you will never ever, as long as you live, work in a worse place or with worse people. I can sit through any lunacy these days and take it all in stride. I even chuckle inside at my coworkers distress at whatever the terrible management crime of the week is. I will be the cool one during a terrorist attack or a bank robbery. If someone ask me why I was so cool under such pressure, I'll say "That's nothing....I used to work at Alaska Structures."

I am almost out of room so I'll continue in the next block ...

4) Finally. You have got to realize that there will never be a time when your or anyones elses' talent or intelligence will be perceived as anything but a threat. Being fired or forced to quit is an absolute blessing, not a curse at all, because things there are only getting worse. Everyone I know who has left because of the reasons I or your friend left has landed better jobs and positions and your friend will too.

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I just took a look at their "new" website. Too funny!

November 20th, 2009 ~ 6 AM

I interviewed at Alaska Structures

Here are the best things about the interview:

1. The three other brilliant women who came there to be interviewed and therefore fooled by this fiasco, this game and wasting thier (and my) precious time.

2. The cute and super-sweet dogs that I now feel sorry for.

and finally,
3. The Starbucks Mocha they got for me which left me wondering if they slipped me a hallucinogenic drug as they tossed me down the rabbit hole. They laughed at me as I asked a question regarding work/life balance-which is very important to most sane Americans. Being that they work 15-18 hours a day, how can I be so judgemental when they clearly lost any functioning faculties they had years ago..... Cuckoo!!!!

(Cue circus music..)

I have two words for the folks at Kirkland Alaska Structures: Dr. Phil.

To those of you interviewing for jobs there as they recommend you read this forum and "Make up your own minds": RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, Also, I would like to extend my appreciation to AKS for being the harbinger of false hope. We were there to look for serious work, and not to be dicked around or to be made into idiots. I've been unemployed for six months. How dare you make a mockery of the intense efforts I make every day, of all my fears and struggles fully realized. Of everything I do simply to survive. How dare you use the wonderful, brilliant and skilled women that came in to interview for your own twisted game. F-YOU! How do you sleep at night? Oh, wait... You don't.. You're working 24/7 if your organization is actually real....... Have fun dying young.. Sick moron.

It's simple:

Cash cow government contracts have given the staff a sense of entitlement. That is what drives everything.

That sense of entitlement makes them operate with razor sharp destructiveness, as they will tell you, they don't believe in relationships, result? They are rude.

None of that ever bothered me or deterred by in dealing with them. But for me looking back, I did a good job of peeling back the layer of the onion and peering into the center to verify if what they claimed was actually true. It isn't. Plain and simple.

The eagle has landed. Starbucks. That's right kids - Starbucks.

Again:

Alaska Structures - Beware!
FYI - It's a shame people wast your time and lie...so, I hope this helps to save you the time they indifferently waste.

Alaska Structures is a scam!
Everything they tell you (and that's very little) is a lie. They wont tell you, but what they are is ridiculous; a silly and incredibly unintelligent shoddy sales force that sell tents manufactured by some unknown outside company they front as their own. After 3 minutes with them it will be very clear they could not manufacture a cold glass of water if their lives depended on it. The CEO/Owner uses phrases like "my system" a true red flag for anyone looking for a real job. He is what they used to call a "Flim-Flam-Man".
Beware and don't wast you time unless you are truly interested in a psychological case study of misfits and low bar lost losers! If you do go, are not soft skinned and have not a care in the world for them and their silly mess of a job then you will truly enjoy the experience of looking into such a lost and lonely world that is not yours.

Or do yourself a bigger favor - Skip the interview!
Don't try and intellectualize, understand them or look at statistics. The are simply mentally ill, intellectually small fools... Again, skip the interview and move on to something more rewarding and productive.

I owe a debt of gratitude to everyone here who posted on what this company was and how they behaved.

I got a call yesterday afternoon from a Jackie, who said she worked for Alaska Structures and who had seen my resume on Monster. They were looking for an Administrative Assistant/Receptionist, and would like to bring me in for an interview.

To be honest, I was a bit tired when she called and at first thought she was a telemarketer who'd somehow gotten my cell phone number. Then I realized that she was calling about a job, so I tried my best to perk up and put on my best phone interview. I asked her what the company did and she said that they put up pre-fabricated housing, and that their products were used on military bases. So, I thought to myself, they're in construction.

She asked me why I'd left my last job, and I told her that actually my last job had left me - layoffs had eliminated my position and two others. I asked her how long the company had been in business and Jackie replied, "37 wonderful years". She described a working culture centered around the sales staff - without the sales staff, she said, no one got paid, which made sense to me at the time but afterwards seemed a bit too out of balance. I mean, sales brings in orders but without proper manufacturing and quality products there are no goods to sell, right?

Jackie told me that this was a company that prided itself on having "new ideas" about how to work, things you wouldn't find in business school, and she asked me how open I was to new ideas. It depends on the idea, I replied. Could you give me an example? Jackie could only think of one at the moment. She said that the CEO worked in the office with the staff, every day. "That's not such a new idea to me", I replied, because at my last position the Reception desk was directly next to both the President's office and the office of the company's owner. Jackie had no other ideas at the moment. More to follow...

To continue...

She asked me if I were allergic to dogs, as people felt free to bring their dogs to work. Again, no problem for me. There were dog owners at my last job who brought in their pets, and the odd cat owner, so pets at work were no trouble.

I asked Jackie how long she'd been there, and what she liked best about it. She'd been there a year, she said, and the thing she liked best about it was that it was a culture that allowed employees to make their own opportunities. If you saw a need for something that could be done, and had finished your other work, she said, then you could take that on too, and create your own job. This piqued my curiousity, because I have some multi-media and video experience and (before reading Zakiechan's diaries) thought, hmmmmm, maybe I could put those to work.

We finished by arranging an interview for 6 a.m. on the coming Monday, as the sales staff were often in at 4 a.m. and were working hard. I began to wonder exactly what my working hours would be at this point. Definitely not 8-5, that was obvious. Then she surprised me by saying that this would be a panel interview and that I would need to bring 3 copies of my resume and that I would have to call her cell phone for her to let me in the building. Okay, I thought, so we agreed to the interview. On the odd working hours, I thought that in the end it all boiled down to hard work and I can work hard when I need to, so it shouldn't be a problem.

I set myself down to researching the company, but not seriously because I thought I could pick up the pace on Saturday or Sunday, well in advance of Monday. At this point, I'd had three jobs that I had seemed a strong candidate for go to other people with either more experience or with lesser qualifications than I had, so I was feeling like the call from Alaska Structures was a godsend.

More to come....

To finish my story, I received a call at 6:11 p.m. on Friday asking me if I could come in at 6 a.m. on Saturday instead. I thought they must really be hot to hire this position, so I agreed and stepped up my research that night.

I found out a lot of things: the CEO does indeed do a lot of charitable work, their primary business line seemed to be military supply, and the CEO has donated a total of $68,800 to a variety of Republican candidates from McCain-Palin to Ted Stevens. And I found this forum, which was INVALUABLE. I decided to skip the interview and save my sanity.

A big debt of thanks to truthaboutaks and Zakiechan and all the others who told the truth about this place. I have no time to play games with some company who seems to exist only to gratify the ego of frustrated salesmen. My advice: AVOID this place.

mickfoil in Everett, Washington said: To finish my story, I received a call at 6:11 p.m. on Friday asking me if I could come in at 6 a.m. on Saturday instead. I thought they must really be hot to hire this position, so I agreed and stepped up my research that night.

I found out a lot of things: the CEO does indeed do a lot of charitable work, their primary business line seemed to be military supply, and the CEO has donated a total of $68,800 to a variety of Republican candidates from McCain-Palin to Ted Stevens. And I found this forum, which was INVALUABLE. I decided to skip the interview and save my sanity.

A big debt of thanks to truthaboutaks and Zakiechan and all the others who told the truth about this place. I have no time to play games with some company who seems to exist only to gratify the ego of frustrated salesmen. My advice: AVOID this place.

OMG!! that is crazy, so are the other comments. They called me too but I haven't returned the call. They can't really be that bad can they?

A tennis ball has fuzz on it to give it traction when it hits the court. The fuzz works like tread on a tire to keep the ball from sliding on the court. It improves the bounce which translates to an improved ability to aim the ball and have it go where you want it to go. The "fuzz" also dampens the bounce so the ball does not bounce as far.

If your reading this you have had some sort of contact or communication with Alaska Structures. This company is different then any place you will ever have the pleasure to work at. If you make it past the elusive 90 days well done. This place is not for everyone, but it is for some. If your in the some category then you will be in the happiest place on earth. If you spend any real time at AKS your life will forever be changed (for the better). Since leaving my life is rather boring. I must say I really do miss the people there. During my time I got to help people who really did need help in this world. Not people looking for a hand out but people who really couldn't help themselves. Richard I say bravo to you good sir for doing what you do. I will always look at my time there as some of my happiest. To all of you (R,C,A,D,M,W,E) thank you for a period of my life well spent.

Got to IMDB to get a summary

So you're saying the president has a scandal and this company is creating a fake war to cover it up.

Any sane person should just stay away from this company... clearly they produce crazy people

If you lived on an island and it was the greatest place on earth because only a few people lived there (that you liked). Would you tell everyone about it or would you only invite the people that you felt would be good for the island? They dont produce crazy people. If what they do makes them crazy then we need a lot more crazy people in the world. By the way who determines what crazy is?

They are a bunch of fruitloops. I think they play mind games with people to see how they respond.

After reading this entire dialogue, I really am quite fascinated with AKS. Quite intrigued. I applied for a position but haven't heard back. akschangedmylife...do you have recommendations on how to land a job there? And suggestions on how to make it through the elusive first 90 days? How do I know if I'm the right "fit" for the company? I'd love to give it a shot and see if I belong on the island!

To airplanenoise - You need to want to be apart of something bigger than yourself. There isn't a trick to getting past the 90 days you either will or you won't, most don't. If you can be open to new ideas outside of the norm and don't care what other people think then you might make it. If you get in there and it's a good fit for you then you will be rewarded, not just monetary but within yourself you will feel like a better human being. Might even help change the world. Good luck.

To akschangedmylife...thank you so much for your reply. The more I hear about AKS, the more I want to be part of it. Everything you said strikes such a resonant chord in me. I rewrote my cover letter to say what I really wanted to say...we'll see what happens. I'll let you know. Thanks again for your words...I appreciate it.

Hello- I just interviewed with AKS, and it was very odd. There were 6 of to start. None of us were told that this was going to be a "group" interview, which didn't bother 5 of us, the person left 5minutes into it. Matt, head of Administrative department, was there, and 2other men, who did not for whatever reasons introduce themselves, but they were there, one taking notes on everyones resume's, the other one was on his computer and only spoke maybe 2x. Matt conducted the overall interview. He humiliated all of us, drilled us on how we answered questions, it was very odd. Would not give a straight answer about AKS, just said its a private company, would not give straight answer about the positions applied for. I immediately thought this is a head game. He is trying to piss us off and insult us, so I just answered the questions the way I felt, Matt did not like one of my answers, and said "hes not buying it" I just said ok, I felt like saying, "I wasn't selling it" and I almost did.. After reading all theses comments, I am unsure what to think.. I don't mind working hard, I have worked hard my whole life but, with age I have learned family is more important than money(I have 3 boys still at home), so I wont work 80hr weeks, I don't mind long hours within reason. I am not a SALES person, and I am now wondering if the Administrative position is REAL or not. Anyone out there who can give feed back.

If the interview process is an indication of the company's management style I say walk away and never look back. They clearly like to try and intimidate, humiliate, etc. I am grateful that I am old enough to know that my skills and experience will be valuable to a company that is worth my time. Kudos to you RED as your children are WAY MORE important than AKS. I was in the room with you. I wish you the best of luck. You were too nice a person to work there. We respect ourselves and deserve respect from others!

What a colossal WASTE of time!
I made the mistake of going to a so - called interview for this absurd company and it was a freak show from the very start. I was told I would be met by a company representative which did not happen. My "interview" didn't even begin till nearly 25 minutes AFTER the time it was to have started and then consisted of an odd little man who was much more interested in flirting with the two 30 - something gals at the table with me. It turned out that the odd little man in wearing the stained AKS polo shirt and baseball cap was the CEO who did nothing but flaunt his giant ego and make absurd comments and statements that had NOTHING to do with a true, professional interview.

Random questions posed in the most bizarre manner by a man who clearly couldn't have cared less about the answers. I could tell that the two women were as unimpressed as I and perhaps he read that as well since he chose to leave the table on several occassions. We were then introduced to a another guy who had all the personality of a rock who then proceeded to parrot the CEO and ask similar bizarre questions. When questions were posed to either of these gentlemen, they would typically look at each other, smile and laugh at some inside joke and then give some worthless smart mouth answer. At one point towards the end of this nonsense, I asked the younger of the two if there were other interviews scheduled and his reply was very coldly: "Hundreds."

Anyone foolish enough to interview "hundreds" of individuals for a position is obviously NOT prepared to make an intelligent decision based on the best possible candidate for the position. Further the overall lack of professionalism was rampant and very much apparent with every single member of the AKS staff who was nearby.

I cannot recommend strongly enough AGAINST working with this company!

Just one more note of interest about this collection of bizarre individuals. They virtually INSISTED that all who participated in the interview read the BLOG here to see what people are saying about them. It seemed very much as though they were proud to be so very strange and absurd.

Is that really a place where you'd hope to work?

I would actually consider working there...but I've sent my qualified resume twice and they've never called me for an interview. Go figure!

To Airplanenoise in Bellevue - After reading all of these posts, you still want to work there?

I recall an interview there several years ago. The fellow taking the lead explained how they only hire the best and the brightest. I asked him how he landed at AK Structures. He said he recently moved from the E coast and answered a want-ad. Go figure. If they hired the best and the brightest, they would recruit employees from other firms ... they wouldn't cast out a drift net to catch the unemployed and otherwise under-employed via want ads and Craig's list postings. Of course I regret not asking him how he, as an unemployed person answering a want-ad, could be considered the best and brightest. But anyone reading these posts can answer that question ... it's not true. To work there, you just have to learn to drink the cool-aid.

Alaska Structures uses the "stress interviewing" process. That is why they make potential employees wait for the interview to begin and deliberately give voice to rude and outlandish comments. If you know that before you arrive, you can prepare yourself.

I have no idea how they are to work with, I have only interviewed there.

I worked there for very little time. Witnessing the HUMILIATING interviews plus their HUGE ego parties after the people that had been interviewed left, did a number on me.

They revere Richard, who undoubtedly is a brilliant man and funny too. I learned to like some of the people there but it was too hard to see young lives being pushed around like that and being manipulated into becoming jayholes.

Guys at AK, you could make soooooo much more business if you were nicer to the people on the phone. You really could. I left AK to quickly become an amazing salesperson (something I'd never tried before); the top salesperson of the firm to be exact.

Good luck and GET OUT!!!!!!

Gsamritn in SEA, how dumb do you think we are? How about posting a video of Richard in the conference room during a speech? Go clean again while nobody's there (yeah right) and post it.

ROFL...So a year and a half later after interviewing at Alaska Structures I just received a phone call from them asking me to come in for the group interview for the Office Manager position. I was like "What company is this again" as I thought she said Alaska Structures and she confirmed it was Alaska Structures. I said... OH NOOO NO NO NO Thank you! haha

Why did you delete the "hidden video" at AKS? It was very entertaining! Gsamritn in SEA???? Why did you delete it?

Im just the cleaning crew , found the disk in the trash...

Dear AKSKIRKLAND:

This is to notify you that, as a result of a third-party notification by Richard W. Hotes Foundation claiming that the material is infringing, we have removed or disabled access to the material that appeared at www.vimeo.com/

If you believe that your material has been removed or disabled by mistake or misidentification, please provide VIMEO's Copyright Agent with a written counter-notification containing at least the following information (please confirm these requirements with your legal counsel or see Section 512(g)(3) of the U.S. Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. 512(g)(3), for more information):

For some reason this company cannot take "no" for an answer from me for wanting to interview for their assistant position. I applied awhile ago and received a call from what sounded like a child to set up an interview. I called back and left a voice message to do that. They didn't call me back. So I called again and left a voice message. They called me back and left a voice message to call them back to schedule an appointment, so we played phone tag... then I went to a staffing company and told them I applied to Alaska Structures and they said "stay away from them", they will make you work a ton and they don't pay very much. So I called Alaska Structures to request if they were still interviewing for the assistant position and the child said yes but it has to be on Saturday. I accepted it and the interview was set up. Then they called me about two days later and said the interview was rescheduled at the fair. That's weird. Now after a few weeks I just get a call asking if I am still looking for a job. I don't think this company knows how to coordinate interview scheduling.

Speedo in Seattle, Washington said: This place sounds like an absolute nightmare! Sounds like the environment is hostile and actually against HR policy. You're required to take an hour lunch and two 15 min breaks while working an 8 hour day. This place is insane! They should be investigated. This is a lawsuit waiting to happen.

I agree. Its against the law not to give an employee a break after six hours of work. I smell lawsuits!

I didn't realize that there was so much negative comments about the company. I usually go with my first impression and so far it hasn't failed me. When the voice on the other end of the phone sounded like a five year old I knew the company would not be a good fit for me. They don't appear to be very mature with how they want to represent their company. Not professional!

Speedo in Seattle, Washington said: I can tell you that I currently work with one of your ex-employee's. He lasted 3 or 4 months and has told me numerous stories about working in that environment. Everything that I have heard from him has appalled me. I don't believe that abusive sales tactics and slave driving are appropriate ways to run any organization. Why does your company brag about the high turn-over? You shouldn’t be proud that no one wants to work there...it doesn't make you cool or exclusive. The employee's who are still there don't have self respect and are glutton's for punishment. No one should be treated like an animal in their place of work. It just isn't right. Life is too short. Your company should seriously be investigated.

All it takes are people to start calling the Better Business Bureau and begin complaining!

Roy in Seattle, Washington said: Getting to millions of dollars in deals at AKS is not very difficult if you follow your training and follow your closing strategy "exactly". If you understand your customers needs better than the competition then your closing strategy will get you the deal.

Sales reps that come into the organization learn early on how to qualify their customers by having a few quick closes soon learn that it's a lot tougher to close the larger deals than you first realize. You have to loose the million dollar deals before you learn how to win them.

BUT YOUR REPUTATION IS NOT GOOD HERE IN WASHINGTON!!!! YOU NEED TO FIX IT!!!

gypsygal in seattle, Washington said: I recently interviewed with this company. It was hysterical! I caught onto their manipulation early on in the game--the guy next to me didn't and was freaking out! I told him to relax--they were watching for his reponses. Sure enough!! That's the game. From the security camera watching us, to the quarter on the table, to the wierd selection of magazines, to the waiting for 30 minutes to be interviewed, to the being ignored, to the everyones being hired as a sales person, to the open computer books while interviewing, to the guy in the motorized shopping cart deal...and more!! It was all a game. Interesting concept to weed people out. I stayed for the sport of it all. In the end, not what I am looking for in a job. The interview experience helped me out--walked away from Alaska Structures with a very good idea about what I wanted in a position--interviewed with another company this afternoon at 1:00 and was offered a position at 4:30. Again...Alaska Structure's way of interviewing was very intriguing. They want to annoy / offend you. They want to see what you are truly like ... so they try to make you angry. Hilarious!! Wonder what happened to Tom. They were eating him alive.

What a sad way to ruin someone's perspective of Alaska Structure's being a solid company. When the staffing coordinator told me to stay away from the company I knew it was BAD.

tammy in Federal Way, Washington said: OMG!! that is crazy, so are the other comments. They called me too but I haven't returned the call. They can't really be that bad can they?

Hi - I too have been subjected to phone harassment from this company. They call me to set up interview appointments for administrative assistant/receptionist job and then leave a message but they never return my voice messages. Finally I called them back out of the blue and asked if they were still interviewing for the AA/Rec job and sure enough they were. They said we'll see you on Saturday and I said ok but then two days later they called back and rescheduled. I never showed. That was a few weeks ago then I get a call yesterday from them asking if I was still looking for a job they had an AA/Recp position open. I said No I have a job.

chadness in hobbs, New Mexico said: the kirkland office, sits there in the morning and william or dillon will read these comments and they will all have a laugh and joke for about 10 min about how pathetic all of you are and that you have no life.

LOL

Nothing about the way these guys run their office makes sense. I was scheduled for a 6 AM group interview in which the CEO basically just talked about himself the entire time, none of the other 3 guys on the panel were even introduced (or could be bothered to glance up at us from their laptop screens), and of the 4 questions we were actually asked only 2 of them had anything at all to do with the job or company. One of the anonymous panel guys even got up halfway through and came back with a peanut butter sandwich, which he gleefully ate while surfing YouTube (psst, guys, we can see what is on your screens in the reflection on the wall behind you, just FYI).

Then, after an hour of mind-numbingly boring stories from the CEO about how cool he is and how he knows more than any business school, there was a 10 minute "laugh at the bloggers and call them losers" moment. We were all told to get on Indeed.com to read the comments here, and we should call back and let them know if we were still interested in the job.

I called back simply because I wanted to ask a few clarifying questions before committing to an answer. The girl answering the phone fumbled the company name, didn't know who to transfer me to (and I certainly didn't know either since no names were given aside from the CEO and I was told she couldn't transfer me to him), and she accidentally hung up on me three times before writing down my phone number and promising to find out who to give it to so they could call me back.

Are you surprised that I never heard from anyone? No, me neither. It's just as well, I don't really have any interest in working for a company/office that is not only completely unprofessional in its conduct and appearance, but it also prides itself on pushing employees to the point where they quit on the spot on a regular basis. That's not something to be proud of, boys, I hate to burst your bubble.

truthaboutaks in Kirkland, Washington said: That sense of entitlement makes them operate with razor sharp destructiveness, as they will tell you, they don't believe in relationships, result? They are rude.

This was actually a big red flag for me right off the bat: one of the first things the CEO said in the group interview was that he didn't believe in customer service because it was better to have a good product.

Any company leader who hasn't figured out that having the best product AND having the best customer service is the goal you want to strive for is completely clueless and not to be followed. I don't care if he did defy several international laws and safety regulations by taking his completely untrained office workers into a war-torn area to deliver supplies, he is not someone to be trusted in the business arena if you're at all interested in a career future.

If you're reading this and thinking "Those guys are right, these bloggers are whiny losers and this job sounds awesome!" then there's no hope for you. Taking this job is like marrying someone that everyone says will abuse you: you tell yourself they don't know what they're talking about, everything is fine, and when the abuse starts you find reasons to justify it even when evidence that no one else is going through the same thing is staring you in the face. And when it gets worse you tell yourself it's for your own good, you deserve this, and you'll grow from it because the abuser really loves you and must have good reasons for what they do. And when it destroys your life/self esteem/sense of what a good company is actually like, you will truly believe that it's all for the best and that your situation is surely better than the others that didn't have to go through your trial by fire.

Or you could save yourself the pain and go find work elsewhere. Seriously, you'd be better off at McDonald's.

akschangedmylife in Redmond, Washington said: If you lived on an island and it was the greatest place on earth because only a few people lived there (that you liked). Would you tell everyone about it or would you only invite the people that you felt would be good for the island?

This doesn't even remotely make sense, considering your company is taking hundreds of interviews with thousands of people (and yet somehow still can't manage to hire or keep people for the job).

The job listing for Admin/office assistant has been continuously posted for more than a year, both on Craigslist and Monster.com... and in my interview when someone asked the CEO why (because she'd researched it and was wondering) he bragged about how three admins once quit in one day because of a challenge he put out there to them.

That's not leadership: a true leader doesn't have problems keeping people on board.

Sounds like the CEO used to be the service. Most men (I'm trying not to be prejudice) that have been in the service that are now in top management positions treat their employees very badly. It really is the only way they know how to manage employees, by threatening and manipulation they feel like they can control the situation.