I was just reading through some of the Glassdoor reviews on AOL and one poster mentioned that the company lacks standard policies and procedures. I can see why this statement was made based on my experience.
I saw the initial job post online and applied (resume and cover letter). About a week later I heard from a recruiter requesting a phone screen. A few weeks later we finally got on the phone. I felt that the recruiter was using somewhat of a combative tone when discussing my perceived lack of experience related to the job and my salary requirements. I got off of that call feeling that I had little chance of getting a call back. I got an email the next day stating that the hiring manager wanted to talk to me.
I spoke to the hiring manager later in the week. It was a pretty straightforward conversation…quick walk through my resume, questions around what I wanted to do in my next position, and more information about the position. I received an email the following week to schedule in-person interviews on the Dulles campus a couple weeks later.
I was scheduled for 6 onsite interviews (some were actually video interviews with people offsite). The interviewers were in adjacent groups and from the manager through VP level, including another talk with the hiring manager. The interviews mainly consisted of me talking about my related job experiences and what I was looking for in a new position. There were some questions about AOL, it’s product offering, and my impressions of how the company should proceed moving forward. Make sure you know some of the basic facts of the company like CEO, stock price, product offering, competitors, etc. A couple of the interviews also had case-like questions with one breaking out into a full-blown case. Be prepared for the possibility of case questions, bring a pen/paper and be ready to do some math…nothing too strenuous though.
A few days later, I was scheduled to do another phone interview. That call was pretty pleasant as most of the time was spent with me asking questions. I got off of this call feeling pretty good and expecting to hear next steps pretty quickly. A week, then 2, then 3 went by with no word from AOL. At the 4 week mark I decided to email the recruiter and ask if I was still being considered for the position. The recruiter immediately responded and said that they would circle back with the team to get more information. That was 4 weeks ago…so it has been a total of about 8 weeks since I have heard anything official.
At this point it’s safe to assume that I am off of their radar, but it’s very TACKY and UNPROFESSIONAL of them to put me through all of those interviews, then not have the decency to communicate with me and let me know what is happening with the process, or at least keep me in the loop. It says a ton about how things probably operate internally there.
The people that I interviewed with were all nice, pretty laid-back, and seemed to really enjoy working at AOL. The offices were well-lit and colorful…more of a start-up environment than that of a company that has been around for decades.
