I applied through a recruiter. I interviewed at Aquent in Mar 2021
Interview
I was contacted first by the recruiter, who did the initial phone screening. It was much more in-depth than I expected--more traditional for FTE roles rather than what I'm used to for contracts. I then had an interview with the account manager and the managing director related to the account. They primarily gave me the details on the job, to see if I felt I was a good fit. Then, I moved on to the client interview, which the account manager and director also attended. Once again, very traditional questions like "tell me about a time when..." Everyone was quite professional but the actual position and hiring manager would not have been a good fit for me.
Interview questions [2]
Question 1
Standard FTE-style questions (rather than skills- & experience-based queries). For example, Tell me about a time when a project went wrong.
I applied through a recruiter. The process took 5 weeks. I interviewed at Aquent in Dec 2021
Interview
The phone screen process went great, occurred the day after contacting their recruiter. After that, didn’t hear back for multiple weeks. Was then contacted by the same recruiter asking if I was still interested, which I replied with a yes, only to have them disappear again without any replies to my follow ups.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
How many years, and what styles of technical writing was performed, if it was internal or public facing, etc.
I applied through an employee referral. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Aquent (Sunnyvale, CA) in Nov 2015
Interview
Since Aquent is a staffing agency, the interview with the agent is not like a regular interview with the actual manager I would be working for. Since the agent and I lived in different states, it was only by phone. The agent was very friendly and set up the interview with the hiring manager. When it came time for the on-site interview, the agent gave me the wrong street address. Fortunately, I was early and was able to get the correct address and make it on time. The agent kept in touch all the way through the hiring process. Other than a few minor administrative snafus, the process ran pretty smoothly.
The agent I worked with lacked experienced in salary negotiations with the company. She referred me to her manager, but he was out for a week. Thus, I was not able to get an answer in a timely manner.