marvin
Florida,#2UPDATE EX-employee responds
Thu, March 15, 2012
I had a very similar experience with Amscot training.
I already had a new job and Amscot offered me one at a 25% higher salary, so I was excited. My wife is pregnant, so a raise like that would come in very handy. I also interviewed with Matt and he actually saw me in a decent amount of time. I talked with him for a short while and he asked me if I owned my vehicle. I stated yes we did (my wife and I). He asked if I rely on anyone else to get to work I told him "no". I told him that I have a job overnight and would like to keep working there as well. He told me I needed to quit it because I had to have an "open availability".
It seemed to go well and he said he'd get back with me if they chose me. The next day he called. He said Amscot wants to go ahead and hire me. He emailed me the paperwork and we went over it. We wondered if I should quit my steady job for this, and decided to go for it. There's no room to stand still when an opportunity arrives, or so we thought.
My wife pointed out that there's a thirty percent failure rate in training. I saw that the paperwork also said as long as I pass the quizzes and final test, I would move on to week two (at a branch). I told my wife that I'm great with numbers and shouldn't have a problem.
She agreed and I called back Matt and told him I'll take the job. He told me to do the drug test and follow the instructions on the paperwork.
I went to training in Tampa (over 40 miles from my house) on a Monday. I was so excited about doing all the modules, I was finishing one while the trainer, misty, was speaking (so were two other trainees). She said how rude it is was to do modules while she was talking, even though she also said we need to multitask earlier in training!
After class I apologized for doing the module while she was talking and would not do it again.
The next day we watched a video. She dimmed the lights and it ran for about an hour. Because I had a job that was graveyard shift, it was hard for me to keep my eyes open for the video at the end because that was the normal time I would be sleeping. This happened twice more during long videos.
Throughout the week I took all the quizzes and passed them all. All this time, the Russian girl that was also in the class was having a hard time with them (probably since her first launguage is not English). They repeatidly took her to the back and coached her. They eventually gave her the modules to do on paper to help her.
They hired someone for IT and he was doing a little better on quizzes than I was.
On Thursday, misty pulled aside one of the people after class. She was gone from training. She also pulled me aside. She expressed that they were unhappy with me dozing off during videos. I told her I'm sorry, I was recently working overnights and had to adjust to staying awake during the daytime. She also said that I was leaving as soon as 4pm rolled around. I told her that I had to pick my wife up. She didn't like that. She said that Matt told me I needed to be the only one to use my car. I told her Matt only asked me if we had a car and if I can get to work without relying ob anyone. I told her I took that question as "can you get to work no matter what?"
I told her I will be sure to use the car to get to and from work, and I'll have my pregnant wife use the bus (since I already screwed myself out of my old job). She said she'll have to speak to "HR" about it and let me know.
The next day was the day of the final. Before class I asked her what the answer was and she said she didn't know yet. Later, i noticed a result of the class' performance in the break room. I had a 1.95 (2.0 is meeting expectations). IT trainee had 2.01 (I believe). He three remaining females all had 2.17! How did all of them score the same exact odd number?! I smelled a rat.
The day went normally. I took the final and finished before anyone else (I don't believe in stretching things out if I know the subject matter) and passed with a 95. She saw this. She went to the IT trainee and said "excellent" when he scored a 96. I knew it was bad news for me. I filled out all the paperwork, seemingly finalizing my training when she pulled me aside again.
She told me that "HR" decided to let me go. They were unhappy with my performance. I asked her "Even though I passed all the quizzes and final with no problem?" She said it didn't matter. She gathered my things and I asked her, "Remember yesterday when you pulled me aside and questioned my devotion at the end?" She said yes. "I drive over 80 miles round trip to get here, if that's not devotion.... I don't know what is."
lnj4ever
Saint Cloud,#3Consumer Suggestion
Sun, May 08, 2011
While I do not work for Amscot and/or was not present during any of your interactions, I can deduce from your post that it felt like you had a sense of entitlement. While I realize you may disagree, I ask that you please look at your post and read it objectively (similar to the way you were interviewed). When you are asking a company to hire you, it is just that. You are asking someone to pay you to work for them. You are asking them to trust you to represent their brand/service and to interact with their customers in a positive way as well as work well with the other employee's. When you first interview for a job, while it is honorable to be honest, telling your prospective employer you cannot work during the winter holiday, despite no seniority and wanting to have the employees who have already been working and likely have worked previous holidays as they were the "new guys/gals" then, is a bit unfair. I realize you felt it was not an issue, but obviously it was as this was the reason you did not initially get the job. You then state when you met with "Matt", he asked you everything you had already reported in your resume and online. As you noted, "Matt" was interviewing many potential candidates, as he was at a Job Fair (the first time). Also, the interview is used to deduce how you will respond to customers, how you carry yourself, and how you interact with fellow employees. It is hard to understand while you felt this was inappropriate, that you future employer wanted to hear in your own words, what makes you a good fit for the company. You then noted on your second interview that you had to wait 15 minutes to be seen for your second interview (the one given to you after your called the HR rep and state you no longer must have the holiday time off). "Matt" felt that you were good enough to spend more of his time to sit with you again, despite the initial rejection. Waiting 15 minutes is really not rare, and in the future, patience would serve you well, as even if you did not voice your frustration, I am sure your body language might have given him some clues. Again, despite all of this, he still hired you. Finally on the first day of work, after being told to wear a long sleeve blue shirt, you choose for your first impression to show up late and to wear a 3/4 sleeve shirt. (I realize you noted you were not told exactly how long a long sleeve shirt is, however common sense would be that a long sleeve shirt is a long sleeve shirt, and anything above the wrist is not a long sleeve shirt, rather would be a sleeve or short sleeve). You then proceeded to argue with your future employer, and instead of just being humble and apologizing for your misunderstanding and tardiness, especially on your first day, you again became frustrated and confrontational (again this is inferred by your own words, as I was not there). Only then were you asked to leave the building. Obviously there was a bit of a confrontation, albeit they contributed, it was there place of business, and you were the guest. Had it been your "home/place of business", I would guess you would have done the same. Finally, your inference that only a few minorities were in the training, I have been to Amscot on multiple occasions and always see a pretty equal distribution of minorities to non minorities. I believe your statement again gives a clue to your attitude and presentation during your interactions with Amscot. It is extremely uncalled for to "play the race card" when clearly you are just using this to boost your point. Please note in these difficult times, with a high unemployment rate, many people would love to have been offered a job like you were, however I would be willing to bet they would have shown their gratitude and would have been much more flexible in their interactions. Please do not take this the wrong way, I believe you feel you are right and are just venting your frustrations, however if you continue to responded to potential employers in the same manner, you will likely receive the same outcome. It is important to step back and look at ourselves, only then can we reflect and learn the error of our ways. Good luck in the future.
Slighted2
United States of America#4Author of original report
Wed, July 14, 2010
Sometime this year, 2010, I went to one of Amscot's Job Fairs. I was very excited because the advertisement on television and on the internet for prospective employees were not only enticing but seemed like Amscot would have been a great place to work. I went to the job fair on the day that was advertised and I interviewed with a man named Matt. Matt appeared to not know what he was doing, quite arrogant, had me waiting for quite sometime while he doodled away on a laptop in the back then he disappeared somewhere for another few minutes. When he finally came back to the interview area, I sat with him and went over my online application which I filled out there on their computer. He asked a lot of questions pertaining to my employment background, education etc, all of which were already on the printed online application I filled out. He came across as senseless, arrogant, and insensitive while talking to me. As the time ticked away and with the barrage of questions he came to the question of confirming what I had put on the application form which was time off requested for the end of the year. He asked if I needed time off and I said yes. Prior interviews I've been on, I never had a problem being honest by letting the prospective employers know I already had plans and needed some time off. If it wasn't feasible for the prospective employers they would say so right there and then in the interview. This senseless man Matt, did not elaborate on the time off I was requesting so to me it was not an issue. So, finally the interview came to an end after about 25 minutes of teeth grinding with Matt. He told me Amscot will do a background check, employer verification and whatever else they do and I should expect a call back the next before 6 p.m. if they considered hiring me. I did not get a call back by 6 p.m. the next day so I decided to call the following day. Amazingly, someone from HR/corporate picked up the phone, her name was Lisa. I asked her for status of my application, she checked then came back to the phone and said unfortunately my application did not "move forward" those were her words. So, I asked what does "move forward" mean she said I was not considered. I asked her why she said because I requested time off. So, I told her during the interview with Matt, he did not mention that it would have been a problem. She said he should have discussed that with me and I told her he didn't. Bottomline, I wanted the job so I asked her if I unrequested the time off if that would change things in the direction of reconsidering me for hire. She said it should. She made a note on my application, told me she would resubmit it and I should hear from Amscot within 2 business days by the magic time - 6 p.m. To my amazement, Matt, called me by the magic time 6 p.m. the following day.