The first screening was through a recruiting agent, with the standard questions regarding experience and skills. There was an initial interview online with one of the technical staff which was received with "great feedback" as per the recruiter. I proceeded onto an in-person interview during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. While the receptionist wore a mask, everyone inside the company seemed to have left theirs at their desk. I felt pressured to mirror their risky behavior if I wanted to be accepted into the group.
I met the leads of several teams regarding the position. Each interview segment seemed to focus on open-ended questions revolving around terminology. These were difficult to answer succinctly because there were many good answers to them, and how to decide what would be the best fit and best value for the company would depend upon existing solutions to which I was given no direct exposure. They seemed to interpret my answers as indecisiveness or inexperience, even as I answered directly or related every question back to previous experiences in delivering years of beneficial outcomes for employers.
After the interview, I was toured around the internal perimeter of their large, open-layout office. This layout would be highly conducive to disease transmission; which is common to call centers even outside of a pandemic. This should raise concern of anyone who has a family at home, yet has to work under the centralized air system. I estimate there was about three to four hundred cubicles lined with a few unoccupied offices given the privilege of an outside window. The environment certainly screamed business. Yet, it was disappointing to see a big, new, and expensive office not to have a single piece of art or comforting decor. That is, aside from a few dusty couches or the break room that resembled a grade school cafeteria. It seemed more of an afterthought rather than a place designed for their knowledge workers to unwind the stress accumulated in the high-stress environment of a call center.
The biggest negative from this experience was the follow up. For context, before the interview the recruiters were quite gregarious and punctual about reaching out to me to make sure that I had all the necessary information, especially when it came time for the in-person interview. After the interview, I immediately tried to contact my recruiter to give them feedback about how the interview went, only to be met with an answering machine.
After not hearing back well beyond previously set expectations, I attempted to contact both the direct recruitment agent and a senior agent over phone and email for a simple status update. The general agency phone number did not ring through and leaving a voicemail was not an option. My agent did not pick up their direct number, return my voicemail, nor did their senior agent return my email. One should expect a heads up contact immediately once the decision was made, or at the very least, after the four business days I waited for a response to my email to the senior agent. I assumed the agency was defunct, in legal trouble, or otherwise unavailable to follow through on their responsibilities. Instead of letting an opportunity go by the wayside, I reached out to the employer directly. I quickly received a phone call from the senior agent followed up by an email from my agent within an hour. Funny how that works.
The long overdue feedback from the company was but of a single sentence which was nonconstructive at best and nonsensical at worst. The missing requirement mentioned was not listed on my resume, nor did I lie about it in either interview. Hilariously, the position has since been relisted without a second consideration to my application or expanding skill set. I can only hope future applicants understand the level of shenanigans they're getting into.