This is the most unprofessional company I've come across in my job search. I had 4 phone interviews. Each of the people I spoke to told me how I was exactly what they’re looking for & so glad I applied, I'm so inspiring, etc. They wanted to bring me in for in-person interview in about 3 weeks.
They didn’t confirm interview until day before I was to fly out. Then changed it again because one interviewer couldn’t meet until after 5 pm, so I’d need to take a late flight home. I figured this was a good way to showcase flexibility - one of their "LIFE" values.
When I got to interview, the 1st 2 people I met were great. I had a 1.5hr break between 2nd & 3rd interviews, where I was left in a room alone. I had things to work on, so I just worked during that time. Then my 3rd interviewer was 15 minutes late. When she arrived she didn't apologize/acknowledge that she was late, quickly ran through some questions with the implication she didn't want to be there & then left the interview 15 minutes early.
My next 1.5hr break was between that & my presentation. So again, I started working on computer to complete other work. After 30 mins, the person who I was supposed to stay late with barges in & says, "I had no idea you were just sitting in a room alone, or I wouldn't have said I couldn't meet with you during this time. Can we meet now so that we don't have to stay late?" Again, an opportunity to show I'm flexible, so I was fine with this.
She was completely unprepared & had an attitude. I'd like to think it wasn't aimed at me personally & there was some corporate BS that had put her in a mood, but she was so rude to me. She mentioned she didn't have my CV with her. I said no problem I have extras and handed her one. This seemed to really annoy her.
We started discussing women's health and why I wanted to stay in WH - because it's my true passion. She rolled her eyes & told me it's highly unlikely I'll stay in WH. When I asked why, she told me there are only 2 companies with WH areas & people never leave, so don't get my hopes up. First off, she's wrong - I interviewed at more than 2 pharma companies for WH. And there are many more. In case she's reading this & would like to educate herself, here are some pharma companies with WH divisions: Abbvie, Ferring, Syneos, Sage, PRA, Invitae, Merck, Hologic, AMAG, Eli Lily, and I'm sure much more! Secondly, there are plenty of WH opportunities beyond pharma in startups, government, NGOs, etc.
Additionally, she was totally condescending to me. She had either already made up her mind about me, or had chosen another candidate before meeting with me, or was just going through something personally and chose to take it out on me.
Finally, it was presentation time. There were technical issues with this that could have easily been avoided with prior planning, but nothing we couldn't work around. Also, one person didn’t show up & one called in.
Next, I headed back to airport since I no longer needed to stay late. Instead I sat at the airport for hours waiting for a late flight. Everyone said I'd hear back from HR the following week to discuss next steps. I never heard anything again. They completely ghosted me.
After 2 weeks, I emailed my HR contact who was supposed to be keeping me updated - no response. After another week, I emailed hiring manager for updates - no response. I waited another 2 weeks before checking in with both again. Neither could be bothered to give me any update at all. Just completely ghosted me, after I had taken off work 4 times for phone calls, & 2 days for interviews, not to mention the time I spent preparing presentation & researching the company. It literally would have taken 2 minutes to respond even if to say another candidate was chosen. This is the least you could do.
I felt completely disrespected. Who treats people this way? I've never come across a company that has so little integrity and so little respect for their candidates. Makes me wonder how they treat their employees once hired.
Their whole culture is based on LIFE values. Leadership. Integrity. Flexibility. Efficiency. But this is total BS, because throughout the whole process, I was the only one who exhibited any of these characteristics. The way I was treated during the interview process showed absolutely zero leadership or integrity. Not scheduling the interview until the day before isn't super-efficient either. Flexibility? Maybe, but that was more so on my part than theirs.
Clearly I dodged a bullet as I'm with a much more respectful company now. I just hope someone actually reads these reviews & tries to change recruitment to actually align with their LIFE values. Ghosting candidates this far into the interview process is completely unprofessional, disrespectful, and shouldn't be tolerated. I definitely will never apply to this company again after the way I was treated.