Not a tall tale...
Applied to JB around their first anniversary. Was called fairly quickly (pre-911 days) and interviewed. JB then commenced background/reference verification.
Personnel guy called me at home about my three references. Advised he would be contacting them. I stated we have a +5 hour EST time difference, no problem. Despite this the call came at 0030, but mistakes can and are made.
Because my refs were "long distance" it was decided that written submissions would be required, to save on JB phone costs. I then received a phone message from JB that they needed to give me their mailing address for the refs, but then realized they didn't know their address and put me on hold... told they couldn't find it and would call me back (this on my answering machine).
Anyhow, got through this phase. I was then asked for three more references but I declined to expose my colleagues to more midnight calls. Naturally, by saying no, it was the end of the JB road for me.
Looking back, I rejected JB because of their unprofessional (AT THAT TIME) phone screening procedure. After all, an "interview" is a just that, exchanging views. Because I was not desperate for a job, at the time, I genuinely had to determine was this new company a good fit for my family and me.
Apart from this I really enjoyed the face to face part of the screening at Kew Gardens. Really great and friendly people, a totally positive experience. Thanks for that.
