Anonymous wrote: You negotiate hours from a position of power after you get the offer, not during the interview!!!

It's not always possible to negotiate. I work for the company where the business hours are 9 to 6. Even if you come at 7 a.m. and eat lunch at your desk, you still must stay there till 6 p.m. If such schedule doesn't work for OP, then that job wasn't an option anyway.

Anonymous wrote:Cant never go wrong with putting the kids first. Don't sweat it

You are an idiot. Most mothers need the jobs they are interviewing for - and to get the flexibility they need, they need to be savvy. Op was not putting her kids first; she made a dumb interview mistake. You negotiate hours from a position of power after you get the offer, not during the interview!!!

Cant never go wrong with putting the kids first. Don't sweat it

Anonymous wrote:Anybody else think that 20 person interview is a red flag? I assume this was for a management levels position since the director was doing the hiring? That's a lot of people's time to use. Dodged a bullet OP. Consider it a learning experience for a job you really want.

I've never seen that and it's a pretty unwieldy process. We've done hiring panels of 3 at perhaps 2 levels of interviews, and then a recommendation of 3 finalists goes to the person who will select.

When I was in my early 20s and (for some godawful reason) wanted to be a copy editor, I once contacted an interviewer for feedback on why I wasn't selected. Obviously, I got a non-response. This is a really awkward thing to do, and nobody should ever do it.

OP here. Thanks all for your replies and support. After my interview with the 16 member panel I was taken to say goodbye to the Director. At that time the director said she looked forward to contacting me the next day regarding the 'next steps' to proceed with the job. At that stage she had not yet spoken to the 16 members so she thought I would get the job. I am convinced that I did not get my job because of my answer. Also, they were hiring 2 people for 2 full time positions (same job) and they only brought the two people they were interested in hiring in for the final interview, which I blew.

Anyway, you all were right when you said I dodged a bullet. I will make sure I know the hours ahead of time and if they are/are not negotiable. I am a single parent and there is no way I can work until 6pm every night.

Thanks everyone!

I agree with the PPs that there may have been more going on than your one answer. I hate huge job committees-they so often devolve into internal fights that have nothing to do with the candidates.

I dealt with the childcare issue this way: during the first interview I said nothing, during the 2nd interview I raised the issue of hours and asked whether there was any flexibility in scheduling. When my interviewer said he'd be contacting my references, I reiterated that I would prefer a somewhat flexible schedule due to some personal responsibilities and told the interviewer that my references could speak to my ability to manage my work/life balance. When I got the offer I got into the nuts and bolts of work hours. So far the job has worked out really well.

There's something better ahead for you OP. I'm glad you were honest about your reaction to the hours. I agree with others, lots of red flags during your interview process. FWIW, I also did not get a job I really wanted several months ago... but am currently in a new job that I really love that is challenging and offers flexible hours. I never would have found it had I gotten the other job! Hope things work out well for you too.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:this sounds like an all's well that ends well scenario. If that's the level of professionalism of the organization (hanging up on you, not calling you back) then I'm guessing you tanked the interview because you sensed the organization wasn't a good fit for you. I hope you find a better fit elsewhere.

+1. If she thought it was fine to hang up on you can you imagine how horrible she would have been to work for!? You did yourself a favor!!!

+2

Leaving a vm to tell you you didn't get the job is also really unprofessional.

Agreed! Forget that she hung up on you. You don't leave someone a voicemail telling them they don't have the job. Totally unprofessional.

Now it's a separate question if it's good policy to have such a rigid workplace that you can't accommodate parents of young children with a little flexibility in hours ...

To be honest, I think there are some positions that cannot accomodate flexibility in hours. In my last job, my boss came in earlier than everyone by 1.5 hours and left earlier than everyone by 1.5 hours because she was the parent of a middle school child. I had to be the "acting" boss, for no extra pay, for an hour and a half each day, review other people's work, and make decisions for her. It sucked. BTW, I have two kids of my own, but DH picks them up from school. A manager needs to be there when subordinates and people who may need his/her advice and guidance are there.

Anonymous wrote:She probably hung up because she was worried you would ask a question that might open her up to a discrimination lawsuit. I am always extremely uncomfortable when interviewing when people mention kids, because then it's like, oh great, now if I dont give them the job they'll think its because they have kids.

I agree with PPs who say it wasn't meant to be. You learned a good lesson and seem to have a great attitude. Something else will come up.

However: the scenario you described is very, very specific and a weird interview format. Is it possible someone in the room read this and reported back, and they don't want to hire someone who articulates such company detail on a public forum? Just a thought. That in and of itself would make me question your judgment.

I would agree with the bolded above. I've had rejected candidates email afterwards wanting some feedback and I always send a generic response because I don't want to get into any back-and-forth about why a particular decision was made. I actually don't think its a good idea to ask for feedback afterwards, it just seems desperate. It might work if you've landed the interview through networking and can go back to your contacts to get information.

Anonymous wrote:She probably hung up because she was worried you would ask a question that might open her up to a discrimination lawsuit. I am always extremely uncomfortable when interviewing when people mention kids, because then it's like, oh great, now if I dont give them the job they'll think its because they have kids.

I agree with PPs who say it wasn't meant to be. You learned a good lesson and seem to have a great attitude. Something else will come up.

However: the scenario you described is very, very specific and a weird interview format. Is it possible someone in the room read this and reported back, and they don't want to hire someone who articulates such company detail on a public forum? Just a thought. That in and of itself would make me question your judgment.

While there is such a thing as "caregiver discrimination," you shouldn't be so pathologically scared of a lawsuit. As an employer you have a right to require an employee to meet the basic requirements of a job, which include the work schedule. If someone like OP can't work as late as you need then you don't hire them - doesn't matter what the reason is for not being able to work late.

Now it's a separate question if it's good policy to have such a rigid workplace that you can't accommodate parents of young children with a little flexibility in hours ...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:this sounds like an all's well that ends well scenario. If that's the level of professionalism of the organization (hanging up on you, not calling you back) then I'm guessing you tanked the interview because you sensed the organization wasn't a good fit for you. I hope you find a better fit elsewhere.

+1. If she thought it was fine to hang up on you can you imagine how horrible she would have been to work for!? You did yourself a favor!!!

+2

Leaving a vm to tell you you didn't get the job is also really unprofessional.

Anonymous wrote:this sounds like an all's well that ends well scenario. If that's the level of professionalism of the organization (hanging up on you, not calling you back) then I'm guessing you tanked the interview because you sensed the organization wasn't a good fit for you. I hope you find a better fit elsewhere.

+1. If she thought it was fine to hang up on you can you imagine how horrible she would have been to work for!? You did yourself a favor!!!

She probably hung up because she was worried you would ask a question that might open her up to a discrimination lawsuit. I am always extremely uncomfortable when interviewing when people mention kids, because then it's like, oh great, now if I dont give them the job they'll think its because they have kids.

I agree with PPs who say it wasn't meant to be. You learned a good lesson and seem to have a great attitude. Something else will come up.

However: the scenario you described is very, very specific and a weird interview format. Is it possible someone in the room read this and reported back, and they don't want to hire someone who articulates such company detail on a public forum? Just a thought. That in and of itself would make me question your judgment.