Caught off guard by an unsuspected unannounced lunch that turned out to be a final interview.
Bit of a story here that I would like to get some opinions on.
I'm an Operations and Inventory manager and I've recently been job hunting since I quit my Operations Manager job a couple years ago to take care of my newborn son with health issues. The hunt has been stressful and long. I took a temp job that's not great just to have something and take a break from the job hunt. I've started applying again and I applied for a job as an inventory specialist with a start up company.
The job description was hefty and had a lot of things in it that I would consider above a specialist position that was only paying 30$/h. It was in my field of expertise, doing what I like to do, and paid better than the temp gig. To my surprise I got a response. The video chat recruiter screening went well and the guy said I was dressed to formal. I then had another interview with the guy I guess could be considered the GM with more technical questions and that also went well. Throughout this process they kept it casual and there was inconsistencies with the recruiter and the GM like how many people were on the inventory team (recruiter said 2 or 3 and the GM said he didn't know why the recruiter said that because there's none). I chalked it up to start up structural issues, whatever. They also kept asking me why I was applying for this job with my credentials and that they couldn't pay me more than what the posting said. I said it was my field, what I like to do, and maybe there might be more opportunities later within the company (all true).
I get through that and the recruiter gets back to me saying that I need to take a tour of the facility and meet everyone before an offer can be made. We schedule that. I ask them what to wear because normally I'd wear a suit and they said to wear anything because they super casual. I ended up wearing a collar shirt and khakis without a tie. I get there expecting to socialize and tour, but, turns out there's another interview with 2 people. Throughout all the interviews they were asking me questions about my inventory management style and processes way above the job description but I figured that was because they knew of my expertise and to get some expert insight (fair enough I guess). This interview was no exception and they even went as far as to type down my process for certain things. This 3rd interview was about an hour and then I had the tour which was maybe another hour. Still didn't really know much about the structure of the company in terms of supply chain and with every question I asked they said they didn't really have a structure like that and everything was easy going and super casual. Direct co-workers, who would be my manager, and even the hours I'd be working was unknown. I'm still thinking this is start up shenanigans so I'll just follow everyone's lead since I won't be in leadership in this role.
At this point it's been a little over 2 hours and I'm ready to be on my way but they said that every candidate who makes it to the tour gets a lunch. I think this was briefly mentioned before but when they surprised me with that interview before the tour I didn't think it was going to happen. So they grabbed 2 people and another guy that they introduced as the facilities guy to take me to a nearby diner.
I should tell you all that I've never had a lunch interview before, had never really heard of a stealth one, and was not expecting this to be a 4th interview. I thought this would be people I'd work with and they just wanted to see my personality. I thought I'd just follow their lead. We get to the diner, order food, and there's small talk. The 2 people they grabbed for this are talking (a guy and a girl) and it just seems like regular griping about the job a bit mixed with some odd comments like getting a beer for lunch. I didn't engage in that convo. The facilities guy is sitting next to me and he chimes in on their convo with other griping things. So then the facilities guy starts to talk inventory with me and about how they have their first physical inventory audit ever coming up. I respond with man that's a lot going on and I wish I could start after that but the dates didn't line up. Mind you their inventory from my perspective is a mess (I didn't say that as to not insult anyone) and to have my first days coincide with their first ever inventory audit seemed like a lot. The only other negative thing I can think of that I said was that doesn't pay and title isn't what I'm used to but beggars can't be choosers (that seemed ok to say given my previous interviews in my mind). In my head I was fitting in a bit with all the griping.
The next day the recruiter emails me for a follow-up call from the tour. We small talk and I tell him everything went great and everyone is super casual and nice. He responds well and says that maybe they will have a higher position for me in the near future. I respond to that with I don't want to skip anyone in line and my only real concern is sticking to the job I'm getting now and not what could be (I'm paraphrasing but something like this very casually). A verbal offer is made and I just need to send 2 references and what start date I'd like before the official offer can be sent. I send him the info for my references with a preferred start and don't hear anything back for 4 days. I'm thinking this is all good and planning out things to switch jobs. I email the recruiter after 4 days to confirm my start date so I can draft my letter of resignation for the contract temp gig. He says hold up, let have a call. We talk and he's like there's some concerns he had and that it would be bad if the GM asked me something and I said I would stick to my job. He went on to say that if someone said that they probably wouldn't have a job and brought up the lunch convo by saying I said I wouldn't help with the inventory audit. I explained to him I was joking and just starting a job while the first ever audit was happening before I had a chance to get used to the inventory was a lot. He said he understood, thanked me for clearing up his concerns, and that he could get me the offer that same day if he could speak to my references.
The next day I get the email that they rescind the offer and that they need an all hands on deck mindset as a start up. I don't get it. I was looking forward to getting back to my chosen profession and a win during the exhausting job hunting process. Was what I did so egregious? Any opinions on this?