Interview took place just after college graduation season at the beginning of the summer. There were two phone interviews back-to-back, about half an hour each. The first one went closer to 45 minutes which is usually a good thing, but apparently not this time. Had a good idea of the likely salary offer and qualifications of other candidates/employees for the same position; my credentials were quite a bit higher at least in terms of educational background. 1st interview was with a finance manager, which was a brief exchange of who I am and what IBM Rochester does, followed by an in-depth conversation about my background, current activities, and short-term plans. The finance manager was very arrogant and decided it was in the best interest of IBM to focus on miniscule details of my background that reflect no tangible aspect of my qualifications, rather than focusing on the bigger picture; ie goals in working for IBM, my interests, what I would contribute, etc. It was more of an assault on various minor aspects of my resume that I have never been asked about than an actual interview or reciprocal interaction that typical human beings normally have. The 2nd interview was with someone from HR asking the normal cliche behavioral interview questions about past experiences and how I responded. Quite worthless, but hard to complain since that is pretty ubiquitous in terms of interviewing with corporations. At the end of each interview I asked a couple finance-based questions regarding the company, its performance in recent years, growth opportunities, etc. Each interviewer's answer was beyond disappointing; the manager snickered and gave some snide condescending retort, probably because a quality answer would have required him to acknowledge the existence of other people. HR person acted like I just asked her a question coming from a PhD thesis paper on quantum physics. Needless to say, the finance manager wasn't able to surmount the few imperfections on my resume to realize how qualified I was, so my relationship with IBM Rochester ended there.
