So way back when, in March, we travelled to Sweden and on our way back to Jyv�skyl�, we stopped in Turku and ate at Arnold's. I wrote a review about it
here and while in Estonia, I got a comment to contact someone that works at Arnold's.
That person happened to be
Jussi Laurila, who stated he was one of the (Marketing?) Directors for Arnold's. Okay - wow!
So I met with Mr. Laurila in Helsinki the day before I was leaving for Canada (crazy I know) and this was something I had kept under wraps out of professional courtesy to him and the company of Arnold's.
However, seeing as it's been
6 months since being in contact with each other - I think it's safe to say that I did not get the position of Franchisee of the Arnold's in downtown Jyv�skyl� (by the movie theater) and feel fine with explaining what had happened.
(This is purely my experience - so take it for what it's worth).While in Helsinki (back in May), I was 20 weeks pregnant or so and had advised him of this.
Apparently it's not common to notify a potential employer that you will need some time off due to a pregnancy here in Finland...well, I thought I was being courteous, as I didn't want to give
any false impressions and wanted to be as truthful as possible.
I was given the grand tours of various Arnold's locations in downtown Helsinki and got to see how the food was prepared and what store locations were more popular than others etc.
I also got to sample many of the foods, at the time, there were grilled sandwiches just coming out only in bigger cities! How neat! And I gave my opinion on each sandwich as well.
I felt awful for wasting some of the food - but he only wanted us to sample the sandwiches and smoothies etc. - so that's what we did.
Oh and I was given an envelope packed full of coupons - how kind! (Now in retrospect, was this just to "keep me quiet"??)
Had I got the position, I would have been replacing the (at the time) Franchisee of the downtown JKL location because they were not able to continue working.
Mr. Laurila was very nice and very open about everything and I quickly filled out an application but could not complete it on the spot, as I needed some information from my husband.
The contract was only available in Finnish and while I notified him that I do have a few colleagues that are more than willing to read this over with me (one being a lawyer) - I was not allowed to bring the contract home with me. He suggested I notify him when to come to Jyv�skyl� and he'd bring the contract with him and go over it with my lawyer friend and myself in person. Okay - fine.
One thing you need to have to invest into a franchise with Arnold's is money. Being a stay-at-home-mother - that wasn't quite a possibility for me (100,000� is the total cost for a brand new store location). I suggested making a much smaller investment (1-2,000�) and deducting future pay cheques by a certain percentage to put into an "investment" account for Arnold's.
Anyways, fast forward, and I brought my application with me to Canada to complete it and mail it back to him. However, Canada Post went on strike for more than a month during the time of our travels, so mailing the application would have been pointless.
I quickly emailed Mr. Laurila notifying him of the strike and that I have it filled out but will have to wait until I return to Finland to send it. As well, with or without a strike - Canada Post can be quite slow in the snail-mail department!
I did not include a photo of myself in the application, as it suggests - maybe that's why I am still waiting on a response from Arnold's? Who knows!
Anyhow, one sign that the staff lacked professionalism (in my opinion) at Arnold's - was one Franchisee I met gave me his email address and told me to ask him anything I wanted about Arnold's.
So I did. I sent off an email prior to going to Canada (or shortly after arriving) and have yet to hear a response back!
I was advised that Arnold's was started in Finland by Mr. Laurila and a couple friends back in 1991 who wanted to bring something American to Finland. However, all the advertisement I see, including on the paper tray liners, is that some American fellow started it in the USA. (And I was advised this wasn't true...Hmm.)
If Mr. Laurila is one of the Directors of Arnold's - why and how could he let this slide?
I have yet to hear back from anybody from Arnold's and am quite disappointed in this (and he has my number and email). I was seriously looking forward to bringing in an income and working in a customer-service position again.
A little common courtesy goes a long way Arnold's...you could have at least emailed me to notify me I did not get the position, instead of stringing me along.
(And no, I wouldn't suggest it has anything to do with the pregnancy - because you could have asked if I had had the baby yet.)
OH! And if you are ever in a position where you have to pay to travel to your job interview - I was advised by a friend that you have the right to ask to be compensated....
(I did not ask to be compensated).
**Update: According to the Finnish Wikipedia - my friend loosely translated it for me - that yes, Arnold's was started by a group of Finnish men in Switzerland and moved it over to Finland.
But it still doesn't explain why the advertisements don't state this and make strong implications that the Arnold's chain was started in the US...I'll have to go back to Arnold's and find the advertisement about the American and take a photo of it.
But anyways, take it for what it's worth! It was definitely an experience!
