A very unpleasant and unprofessional interview experience . I was called to a meeting at short notice after being informed the team were ‘very impressed’ with my application and led to believe it was an informal meeting ‘just to get to know each other.’ When I joined the meeting the ‘ Of lost time’ group proceeded to conduct an interview. I apparently did not answer the first question quickly enough and was told the interview was being terminated. I was shocked and incredulous and voiced my disappointment only to be compared with another candidate who apparently answered more quickly. A heated ‘discussion’ continued during which I was insulted and presented with blanket statements assumptions, and negative judgments about my experience. I found the company owner, a so-called philanthropist to be an incompetent and ignorant man. The company ad asked for proven research experience and yet the owner expressed some extremely bigoted views about the academic community (I later realised because he self-publishes his own ‘research’ via FSG). I later received an apologetic email from another member of the panel obviously keen to distance themselves from the situation. I believe I was potentially discriminated against once the boss became involved in the ‘interview’ or because the company likes to take on younger people that can potentially be exploited. The interview was bogus and I would advise to give this company a wide berth.
