This was a video screen call for a Senior Consultant position. It was by far the most uncomfortable and unprofessional interview experience I’ve ever had. I interview very well and have never had an adversarial experience like this. I was caught completely off guard and was on the brink of chewing this recruiter out. I came into this video screen expecting to learn more about the position and about Celonis’ product offering from the recruiter after doing cursory research about the company. This has been the case for every phone or video screen interview I have ever attended. After providing our introductions, I was asked about Celonis’ product and told the recruiter that I had cursory knowledge and was hoping to learn more about the company from him during this screen. This was apparently completely disqualifying to say during a video screen. He replied to me (verbatim) that because I had applied to the role, and that he did not reach out to me first, that I should be the one to explain to him their product offering. He immediately became adversarial and refused to tell me about the company or the role. He spent the rest of the interview stuck on this point in conversation and how it proved that I was wholly unprepared and therefore unsuitable to be interviewing for this company. Typically recruiters try to sell the company to candidates during a screen. Of course I would prepare more thoroughly if I were speaking to a hiring manager! I politely explained to him how my expectations differed from his for this call and tried to guide the conversation back to a productive topic. The recruiter was living in Europe and not from the New York office. I’m not sure if this is simply a genuine misunderstanding between cultures, or if he was just on a power trip. In retrospect, maybe being interviewed by someone on a different continent than the position I applied for should’ve been my first red flag about this company.

Terrible. Interviewer's first question was my country of origin (nothing to do with work authorization). Once he heard the magic stop word he turned really rude and told me that I do not know enough about the company (isn't it his job to introduce the position/company?) and ended the interview