Smart Communications interview questions

Well thought out interview. They knew what kind of resource they need and chose to interview based on their requirement. I was from Customer Experience PO, so I was obvious choice for interview. They had 3 job roles and hired 3 according to their expertise. Overall good interview process and kudos for knowing what they wanted from the candidate.

Was approached by a external recruiter for a role with Smart Communications. Had not heard of the company prior to this, but did some research and prepared for an interview. An interview was booked, and subsequently moved due to staff availability. I was told it was to be with one person, but when I attended, it was with someone completely different to who the recruiter had said. The recruiter found this odd too as they had moved the time to accommodate the person who was supposed to show. Regardless, I went forward with the interview asking the questions. The interviewer was the hiring manager but did not seem like she had much experience in interviewing. It was very scatty, with lots of deviations and no clear structure. When it did get to some form of structure, the questions were very generic and the type that would come up in a google search for "interview questions for a security engineer". Questions like, what does CIA stand for, and what is the difference between encoding, encryption and hashing. These seem like very hollow and ill-informed questions for the role that don't add any real value to exploring a persons skillset. Despite answering these questions correctly, and receiving glowing feedback during the interview, the feedback I got from the recruiter was that I was "just shy of the hands on experience needed". Despite working for over a decade, 6 of those in consulting and the remaining as an individual contributor deploying every technical and process control. The feedback seemed to match the interview style in that it was hollow and lacked substance. Disappointing experience overall. My advice would be to provide interview training to hiring managers.