I Feel Like I Dodged A Bullet! Review: The Retail Trainer interview process at Freedom was lengthy, tedious, and ultimately a waste of time. It involved: 1. Initial interview – A pleasant chat with a third-party assistant in the Philippines. 2. Second interview – A discussion with the Retail Trainer and HR Lead in Australia. 3. Mock training session – A 30-minute demonstration on Questioning Skills. 4. Final interview – A Teams call with three directors, including the NZ Managing Director. Total time invested: a full day spread over four interactions. The final interview put me off entirely with a dazzling display of their disconnect from NZ market realities and overconfidence in their positioning. The NZ Managing Director dismissed the impact of Ikea’s entry to the Auckland market stating "IKEA will take The Warehouse Group and Kmart’s customers, not ours... Freedom is a luxury brand." First, If Freedom considers itself in the same category as Boca do Lobo, perhaps their leadership believes they belong in the same league as Musk and Bezos. Second, how much more out of touch with your competitors, New Zealand customers, and the economic landscape can you get? In my professional opinion, it was just another example of deluded management mediocrity. Another director from Australia, asked me to define the difference between training and coaching—an odd question for a senior candidate, but perhaps actually preparing for interviews wasn't his style. Despite my lack of retail training experience being clear from day one, I was ultimately told by an assistant that I “lacked retail trainer experience”— which was fine with me as I felt like I dodged a bullet during the actual final interview. We both dodged a bullet! Ultimately, I don’t believe this company is preparing itself to compete effectively -let alone scale - in a changing retail landscape. It's a pity because it seems to be a brand with some potential. I personally would say anyone signing up for a sales consultant role in New Zealand should proceed with caution.