Magnolia Innovation Associate interview questions

I was contacted by a recruiter via LinkedIn and then did an initial interview. The conversation was very bizarre and I echo the sentiments of other reviewers on Glassdoor that have interviewed with this company: they ask prying questions about your company (in my case, a direct competitor of theirs) that seem irrelevant to the job or role or your qualifications. Some of the questions were about how often my company requires me to go in office, whether I like the company, what it’s like working there, etc. They’re phrased by professional recruiters in a way that may come across as less alarming than they actually are. I have never done a first interview where I’m being asked very specific questions about my workplace that hold no relevance to my qualifications or my fit for a role. I was then told I’d hear back from another person with next steps which of course never happened (seems that ghosting candidates is another common theme of theirs based on other reviews). I followed up and was told I wasn’t a fit. Very little in the interview was even about my qualifications and what they claimed wasn’t a fit was something they clearly could have inferred from my profile and resume beforehand. Bizarre, they seem to be surveilling competitors by way of “ghost” interviewing their employees as much as possible. Throwing mud at the wall to see what sticks, aka, messaging as many random employees at competitor companies to see who is dumb enough to be duped to hop on a call with them and give away information about how their employer operates without any intention to hire. I wonder if this is even legal. Skip this company, not worth the time or effort.

The whole interview process was very effective. The recruiter was amazing at updating you about every decision and next step. I really enjoyed meeting the team, and the interviews were very open and excited to meet me.