Just got a job interview at Harpoon Brewery!

I am SO excited! I was job searching last night and after hitting a lot of dead ends I decided to check for job availability at Harpoon Brewery since i live about 45 minutes north of Boston. Well I sent along my resume in regards to a manager position of their Visitors center and within 24 hours they called me to arrange an interview

I am really stoked! I have been bustin my butt for about a month and a half looking for a job with no luck and decided on a whim to see if I could get a job that would combine with my new addiction and if I play my cards right, I could do just that!

Congrats on the interview and good luck. I'll be rooting for you.

I was in a similar position when I found my current employer. I took a chance and now I couldn't be happier...well, it could be with a brewery not a winery, but I'm not complaining!

Knock 'em dead in the interview!

Thanks for the words of encouragement guys, I really appreciate it! So is there anything I should do for special preparation for this?

Kilted you said you were in a similar circumstance before you got into your current job. Was there anything you did differently?

I have to say again, I AM SO STOKED!

Here it is:

Know the company
Know the products
Know what you'd add to their company
Know where you'll be in 5 years

Also:
Have passion for your career
Have passion for life
Have self confidence
Have follow through

If you can answer the above, you are ready...


The job is yours...for the losing...

Good luck...

Good luck man, that's awesome...

Best of luck to you.

Good luck!!!

Good luck!

What Spyk'd said, plus:

Don't be TOO over-the-top about your homebrewing experience. They'll be happier to hear "I homebrew, so I understand the process enough to make my learning curve a little less steep" than "I brew at home, and I think it would be wicked cool to brew up a 15-bbl batch! Whoa, look at all those hops!"

And be prepared for a pretty un-glamorous entry-level job. The position is likely to look more like a cleaning job than a brewing job (think shovelling grains, hosing down floors, etc.), at least initially. You may get lucky and get involved in more than that right off the bat, but don't be surprised or disappointed if you're not.

Again, good luck!

Thats pretty cool. Good luck.

let us know how it goes

Sorry I'm just getting back to this...But I think the others have nailed it. Know the company and know the position. Go in with confidence and be yourself.

Well, managing a visitor's center might not be the most exciting aspect of brewing, but breweries tend to recruit from within. Load up on Harpoon's history & memorize as much of their product info as you can.

david_42 said:

Well, managing a visitor's center might not be the most exciting aspect of brewing, but breweries tend to recruit from within. Load up on Harpoon's history & memorize as much of their product info as you can.

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haha i just wanna get a decent job that doesnt end up with me in a cubicle. i am a very social guy by nature and think i would excel at a job where i would be able to be around beer and people all day

this whole recession thing is not very nice for us recent college graduates

this whole recession thing is not very nice for us recent college graduates

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Understand that. I graduated right after the first oil crisis(74), went into the Navy and left during the second crisis(79). Now I'm trying to launch a new company/product into an oil-induced recession.

yeah i read an article in the wall st. journal that said anyone graduating from college should go back to school and ride out the recession in the classroom. yeah great idea in theory, but when most graduate programs are minimum 50k a yr and research grants are drying up...well that means im goin into the working world!

So when's the I-view and when will we hear something???

This could be the start of something big....From visitor center to Brew Mastah Glohoppa!

Bike N Brew said:

Don't be TOO over-the-top about your homebrewing experience. They'll be happier to hear "I homebrew, so I understand the process enough to make my learning curve a little less steep" than "I brew at home, and I think it would be wicked cool to brew up....

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Put yourself in their shoes and try to figure what they likely want to hear. I assume it's things like attention to customer service issues, having an interest in teaching a little, etc., a bit more than beer-centric stuff per se.

Have you been to one of their big tent events, in the Spring..?

So the interview was yesterday and I think it went really well. I am a naturally social person so I excel in face to face interviews, but i wasn't too enthused because just cuz you think you interviewed well doesnt mean that they think you did...they said that they would call me within the week (typical) and let me know about if they want me to come back.

Well fast forward to today. I was out cold sleeping, like totally in the middle of a dream and I wake up to my cell phone ringing and its the guy that interviewed me and he wants me to COME BACK IN TODAY AND MEET THEIR CEO AND FOUNDER RICH DOYLE!!

I hope this is a good sign, at the very least its an honor to meet such an important guy in the field of craft brewing...Ill keep you guys updated!!

GloHoppa said:

Well fast forward to today. I was out cold sleeping, like totally in the middle of a dream and I wake up to my cell phone ringing and its the guy that interviewed me and he wants me to COME BACK IN TODAY AND MEET THEIR CEO AND FOUNDER RICH DOYLE!!

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I think that's a great sign!!!

Well, they are certainly considering you seriously if you are meeting the big guns. Good thoughts coming your way - hope it goes great!

That is a great sign. There is no way the CEO is meeting with more than 2 canidates and is way too busy to waste time. It is more likely that it will be a very short interview followed by a job offer! Congrats

Wow, good news! Keep us posted.

Congrats and keep us updated so those of who are living vicariously through you can celebrate our new job.

awesome! congrats on the callback and good luck with THE boss!

haha thanks again to all the great support ive been getting about this whole thing. First off, Rich Doyle is a great guy. You can see why hes running the largest craft brewery in New England. Excellent business mind, he doesnt waste time with any BS, just touches on what he needs to address and moves on.

So the Interview...It was short as anything, only lasted about 15-20 minutes and consisted of some basic interview questions i answered last time (what made you think of applying for harpoon, etc) but the bulk of the time i talked with him it was him stressing about how if I get this position i need to give him a year since theyre putting time into me by training me, etc and the least I can do is stick it out for a year, even if i hate it. Evidently he's been burned a few times by some dopey college kids who werent really ready for the real world yet. I told him I am ready to commit, work hard, and prove myself in the job. Furthermore I said that I thought I was much more mature than most college graduates. Regardless, It was a really tough interview, and I couldn't make heads or tails to how he thought I did.

About 3 hours later they send me an e-mail and they want to bring me back on Tuesday to meet with their VP of Marketing! Im going to know this whole company before I find out if i get the job or not!

You are the lead candidate at this point in my opinion.
The marketing guy .. is the final Gut check .. of the process....... I am guessing this next meeting will be more of a "day in the life" of the job and less of an interview.... that is what I would do/expect if it were me... so that all parties are clear of expectations and responsibilities and such.

Stay positive and confident.

It's a great sign that they're bring you back! Good luck! Yankee Ingenuity will have to make a road trip when you get the job!

Good luck, and have fun shoveling out the mush tun.

Sounds like if you & the Marketing VP get along, you've got the job.

I like companies that can make fast decisions. Hate it when I get a call for a second interview 9 weeks after I've started a job with someone else.

Congrats! It's looking good so far.

Looks good - congrats on Harpoon (even though I bought Long Trail this weekend !)

Sometimes things just work. Sounds like these are all positive signs and at the very least it would appear that you are making a good impression. Good luck and keep your eye on the finish line.

Cheers

well this was my last interview it seems. I met with their marketing VP and he actually lives a town over from me so it was cool to have that local feeling. it was in the same vein as the previous two interviews about committing for a year and the big part of the job being able to speak to groups and such but i also gave them a list of professional references. I also discussed pay and things as well (had to get my parents off my back with the last part)

so after all that they said that they were gonna check on my references and get back to me in a couple days. While driving back I decided to call my references myself just to give them a heads up on what I was applyin for, and the two i got a hold of had already been contacted by harpoon! talk about quick response! Hopefully this is a good sign as well

All I have to do now is just wait and hope with my fingers crossed!
Thanks to everyone on this site for all of your support, youve been awesome!

Time to spend some time on writing some thank-you letters to the key people you saw...!

Spend a sort paragraph on the issues they brought up, explain how you have, or will work on developing it/them.

Express confidence.. and triple-check your spelling!!!

You know what else sounds really good? Seems like they're a very professional operation. They say they're going to do something, it gets done.

Did you talk to them at all about your future aspirations, like wanting to ultimately work in the brewery or anything?

When your references start getting phones calls you're in. Granted of course none of them trashed you.

I will withhold the congrats so as not to jinx you.

stever said:

When your references start getting phones calls you're in. Granted of course none of them trashed you.

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As someone that used to be in HR and in charge of hiring, I couldn't agree more. No one is going to waste time calling references if they aren't at the point of wanting to make an offer. Especially if they've already started calling before you left.

Good work! Write those thank you letters, even if they arrive after you've received an offer it sits very well with all those you meet with.

Good thoughts for ya GloHoppa, let us know. At this rate you'll probably know by tomorrow, they don't waste any time. Here's to hoping we can all raise a pint to your new job soon.

Cheers

References: Last month I got an e-mail reference form from a company in the U.K. They had already hired the guy, but they had to have the references for their files!