Normal resume submission. First contact was a phone interview, lasted 30 minutes. The HR person doing the phone interview was informative and professional during this call. There were no unusual questions. The standard why are you looking, what work history relates to this position and the STAR questions.
This led to a personal interview with the HR person that had performed the phone interview. This interview went slightly deeper into work history and past employers. This interview lasted about 45 minutes and I was asked if I had time later in he week to schedule an interview with a hiring manager. I did so.
The last interview turned out to be with the hiring manager and his manager as well as a management intern that was simply sitting in. I was given a run down of the mgmt training program and expectations of salary and benefits for management. I was repeatedly asked if these were acceptable. The opening salary was a bit low, but there seemed to be room for advancement and a bonus structure that offered opportunity.
The management salary improves after training if a store is available and they really seemed curious about your ability to relocate. All of which I repeatedly assured them I was entirely comfortable with.
The result was an indication that I should expect to hear from them with an offer within the week.
I thanked everyone present at this interview and followed up within 24 hours with an email to both managers and the intern, thanking them for there time and for considering my employment and that I was looking forward to hearing from them. After a week I placed a call to the hiring manager and left a voice mail. I did reach the HR person ( who was the hiring managers wife) and had a pleasant conversation. I was assured I would her from someone soon, either by phone or email.
After the second week I made a call to the hiring manager and his manager both of whom participated in the interview. I left voice mails for both and have not herd back from either.
I suppose I should be grateful that I didn't get an offer and accept it. If your level of professional conduct does not allow for a polite rejection, I'm certain that employees find themselves frustrated on a regular basis by upper management.