I shouldn't have wasted my time with this conservative, ineffective company. Same as other people, I submitted my resume online via email. Heard back in a week, they said that they're interested in proceeding my application but first I needed to take the aptitude test. I took the test and filled a detailed application along the way. The aptitude test wasn't hard, it was just tedious. Be aware that you'll take the same format of the test but under protocol again at their testing center. I guessed that I did well, as I received a phone call from an HR lady the other day. Got an email with instruction on their Houston campus, and scheduled to be onsite a week later.
When I arrived at the office, I saw other people coming in and out. The receptionist was okay, she asked other candidates to take the test first but left me there. She then asked me to have a Skype interview with a recruiter. It went well, he asked lots of basic behavior questions (why did you major in xxx, why do you want to work for Reynolds, etc.) and the interview lasted about half an hour. I was then instructed to wait outside the testing center. The receptionist told me that I need to take the screening test again (just like everybody else...) so that they could verify my result. I did that. As I mentioned above, the same format with a little variation. After that, she checked my result and asked me to fill a "long table" which is another detail employment application. I felt that at that point they're seriously considering your application. The table was a bit weird with questions like "what's your dad's job?" and how much my parents are earning. Before that, you did have to pass an ethnic test where you promised that you won't steal anything from the company, you don't smoke, and you won't always absent from work etc. I started to worry about the office environment when answering those questions.
After the ethnic test and the long application, if you behaved well the receptionist would ask you to stay again. She said that I would meet with the VP of the department, but he was off at that point. I was asked to leave and scheduled an appointment with the VP later. Naive as I was. I thought that I was that close to a real job. I was so desperate at that point that I fought with my intuition saying that this is not the place I'd like to work for. Anyways, I was sent home, waited for two days, and scheduled to meet with the VP on the following Monday.
I then talked with the VP of the software department on Monday for half an hour. He was extremely nice and easy to talk to. The point is, he didn't ask a lot of programming questions. It's more like a small talk and he's assessing your ability along the way. After the talk, I was shown out because the receptionist was temporarily unavailable. I immediately knew that I didn't get the job, as other reviews on Glassdoor said that you would do a drug test on the spot if passed. The thing is the recruiter that I spoke with on Skype called me three days later. He said that I didn't pass the interview but he felt that my background may fit better with the junior project manager role. He'd like to see if I was still interested, and I said yes. We then scheduled another interview in the upcoming Thursday with the senior manager.
The conversation with the senior manager of the Project Management department went for an hour. He started out with the cons of the position, and again the conversation became laid back and he kept asking me some random questions. Besides the standard "what's your strengths and weakness", he'd like to know what I do fo fun at my spare time, what book I'm reading, etc. Apparently my answers did not match with what he expected, as we shared no common interests. He then asked me to stay in the interview room to wait for the result. Ten minutes later, the receptionist came in and said that they'd get back to me in three to five business days. I knew that I didn't pass again.
- And today I finally receive the rejection letter. I'd like to thank the recruiter for managing matching me with a different role, however, I would suggest you guys stay away from it (especially minority). This company seems to be all white, and I didn't notice it in the first place. I agreed with another comment saying that the VPs and seniors are picking whoever they like, as the interview questions are so random and off the pattern. I felt like I wasted a month on them, what a joke.