I was called in for an interview within 5 days of applying for this position. I possess all the required experience and I was interested in the research the director was doing. I was very excited about the opportunity and I figured this job was the perfect fit given I have previous Stanford experience. However unfortunately the interview team had no respect for me as a candidate. I was required to interview 5 times and they requested to speak on the phone to 9 references! Some of these references they talked to 2x. Having previously worked at Stanford I suggested that if they had concerns to check my employee record, which they did and they found nothing negative. They spoke to my current supervisor who made it clear she wanted to retain me and I was told that every reference I provided was overwhelming positive. I gave the interview team my current job description, current performance reviews and previous comments from over 20 people I managed in the past. After several weeks of back and forth they told me they had selected someone else and wished me the best.
While I was frustrated waiting for the decision I was relieved when they turned me down because I was able to reassure my current boss that the process was over. However, almost 3 weeks later they came back asking me to re- interview! The whole situation was handled very poorly, all 9 references said they felt harassed during the questioning and they suggested that if I got the offer to be wary as the director was nothing short of rude. I have never in my career felt so disrespected. During the final interview, I was asked all the same questions as the first time around and I was so insulted at some of the comments (about my reputation) that I am relieved that I was not selected for the position. I found out later that regrettably (an internal non-reference) spoke negatively about me, which is why they had concerns. Overall a big waste of time, my references were treated badly, I found out someone I once looked up to as a mentor betrayed me internally, and the amount of disrespect to me during the final interview was unprofessional to say the least. Beware of applying here, there are administrative politics and if you don't play along you are automatically blackmailed. I reached out to the person who gave me the bad reference to try to discuss any concerns but this person replied that they are very busy and unavailable to meet.