The recruiter reached out to me regarding the position and I found her friendly and helpful. The conversation with her was pleasant. I moved forward in the process and was invited in for an interview.
The day of the interview, the weather was pretty bad and they offered me the opportunity to reschedule if I felt like traveling was unsafe. It had snowed earlier that morning and schools were out and even OPM declared the day a telework optional day. Anyway, I decided to come in for the interview and noticed that the office seemed fully staffed. That was a red flag for me, as I am used to working in offices where people work remote on days like this. This made me wonder if teleworking is not a part of the culture of this company.
I arrived and waited in a nice office and was offered a beverage by the admin. Then, I was welcomed into a comfortable room to interview with the Technical Writer lead and two other people. The lead, as well as another woman, were both professional and I enjoyed the conversation with them. The third person who interviewed me was obnoxious.
He asked me if I held a Public Trust clearance and I said that I did. He followed up with the usual question, "Have you ever held a higher clearance?" When I said "no," he asked if I had any reason to believe that I cannot get a higher clearance. Both questions are a normal line of questioning. When I responded "no," however, he leaned in and replied, "Are you sure? Is there anything you would like to tell us about your college experience?"
I did not appreciate what he was suggesting at all. It was offensive and unprofessional.
He also interrogated me about my choice for a Bachelor's degree. He went on and on about why someone would choose an English degree. I found that bizarre because he was interviewing me for a Technical Writer position, and an English degree is listed as one of the degrees recommended for the position.
I could go on with how problematic he was, but I will end this post by saying that at the end, I shook the hands of the other two interviewers and we politely articulated our appreciation for the good conversation as he walked away. I found that rude, so I walked out the door and called his name. He turned around and walked back. I then shook his hand and thanked him for his time.
Also, I have not heard from the recruiter in over 2 weeks now.
