I applied on-line and got a quick response. A+
I got several calls from different people at the same facility all essentially asking the same preliminary questions and wanting to set up a phone interview. B-
The phone interview was vanilla, basically a resume walk-through with the standard questions "why did you leave, etc." C+
After passing that low hurdle, I was cleared for a 1:1 phone interview with the hiring manager. Again, I was contacted by two separate people who were doing each other's job. It was clear that internal communication was faulty. C-
The 1:1 was actually pretty good, with some thoughtful questions posed and artfully answered. Nothing too intense or difficult, but they showed that the manager had actually read my resume and wanted more background in my technical specialty, and had a plan. A
Then came the request for the on-site interview. The two-person juggling really came into play here - the morning of the interview I got a call asking me to come in early as the person who initially set up the schedule had not looked at the second person's schedule. Didn't matter, because the second person was a no-show after all!
At this point for most companies this is more of a "chemistry test" for peers and subordinates. Not here; this was a rehash of the phone interviews with the HR and hiring manager, and a seemingly endless parade of people who had little real interest in the open position, hadn't glanced at, much less read my resume, and it consumed an entire afternoon - 12:00 to 5:30 pm with no letup.
The conflicting answers to my questions revealed that the interviewers were not on the same page as to expectations for the position, and the job (IMHO) was a suicide mission. I told the hiring manager about the conflicting statements and he was both confused and annoyed. F
Overall it was poorly organised, poorly prepared, and a gross waste of an excessive amount of time. I really expected better. The idea that interviewees typically have to schedule vacation time to accommodate a half-day interview did not seem to occur to them, either. You are expected to be at their beck and call.