This was the single worst interview experience of my professional life.
The employee setting up my interview asked me to complete several applications and send them back to her along with my resume and cover letter, to which I complied. She told me to ask for 3 different people when I came into my interview, none of whom I actually met. The organizer was also absent for my arrival and hadn't forwarded my credentials to the people involved in the face-to-face.
I had mentioned several times that I was moving in the two days before my interview and if they wanted me to reschedule so I would have time to bring hard copies of all of the credentials she asked for. She said no and that she would have the copies ready for me when I came. She didn't. She wasn't there at all.
I asked the interviewer several times if she had had a chance to review my resume, to which she didn't even answer. She peered out smugly from her glasses and smirked as if I was the one who had come unprepared. I asked several times if she was interested in seeing the writing examples I had prepared in order to show my knowledge of the position. She again didn't even answer, smiled smugly, and told me to pull up copy from the website of my old employer. Seriously? I offered to give the woman proof of ownership, and she instead insisted that I show her exactly where on the site (which had to be logged into) where they had used some of my examples.
I retain too much respect for the people at my former office, so I didn't comply with her request, as I couldn't be sure if it was against any NDA that was currently active.
She then insisted that I pull up personal websites that I had developed along with clients' sites (to prove I wasn't lying, I guess?) I only showed her my own, which was well beyond what I should have given her, but I was nervous and I've been conditioned to be respectful and courteous during interviews. I wanted the job, but by the end of this debacle, I sincerely wanted to run out.
The interviewer continually berated me for not bringing hard copies. I kept explaining the understanding I had made with the organizer, but apparently she wasn't buying it.
By the end of the entire thing, I had to stand up for myself at least a little bit. I asked why she hadn't reviewed any of the hard work I had done regarding their application, resume, and cover letter, and she said she had gleaned over it the week before.
In the moment, I was sincerely crushed by the absolute disrespect I had been shown during this process. They stomped all over me, and for what? They brought me in because I was qualified for the position (honestly, overqualified) and then basically used the time to play some sort of power game with me. I really hope that this is an isolated incident and that this woman was having a bad day or something, because if she needed me to feel like crap for a few minutes to feel good about herself, then she accomplished her work. Sadly, from the other reviews, this seems par for the course at PA Media Group and PennLive.