One of the worst experiences of my professional life, as a candidate. In hindsight, I feel blessed to have been passed over.
After applying online, I was sent an auto-generated request for a video interview. The interview used a digital platform where you are filmed answering standardized ("boxed") prescreen questions. About a half dozen questions, each lasting about 2-3 minutes. Completely impersonal. No chance for the candidate to ask any questions regarding the role, specific duties, the department, the company as a whole. It felt like being on a date with a wall.
After completing the interview, I was sent another email inviting me onsite for an interview. The date/time/location was listed. When I inquired about scheduling flexibility, I was told that no other options existed. Clearly, their belief is that the candidate-employer relationship is one-sided. Once again, before deciding to commit a half-day to the process, you are given no opportunity to speak with a human to find out if the role is right for you, to ask questions that would allow for preparation.
After arriving for the interview, I waited in the lobby with 6 others. You quickly realize you would be attending a group interview (job fair), and would be competing with other attendees. I arrived 10 minutes early, and sat about 25 in total (started late). We were taken to a conference room where the event was explained. A brief into, followed by a cycle of 20-minute chats that did nothing to provide any details about the role(s) in which you were being considered. The interviews were with mostly junior, less-than-enthusiastic staff had very little to offer in terms of relevant information. All questions were basically repeats of the same questions that were asked by the automated video interview.
At the end, we were given a bag that had a notepad inside for our troubles. We also received an email (with all the other candidates names and addresses listed publicly) which shared the names and contact info of all their participants, to solicit Thank You messages from the candidates (a strong hint-hint). In closing, a senior leader shared that decisions would be made immediately following our exit, and that calls/emails would go out early the following week. Well, two weeks later-- nothing. Radio silence. I had to email several people to find out my status.
The whole operation, from start to finish seemed disorganized, inauthentic, unprofessional. It was also clear that diversity was their primary objective, as it was hammered into us via printed material, a video, during the intro speech. The top killers of employer and HR reputations is the lack of follow-through and ghosting. Collins Aerospace proved they are a master at both.