This interview was for a multimedia role supporting a training effort at Texas Instruments. I was contacted by a HR specialist at GP Strategies for an initial phone screen. I then spoke to another GP HR/Talent manager over the phone a few days later who asked more detailed questions based off of the job posting. Shortly after that, I was sent an email request for an in-person interview at TI. With a company like TI, one would expect a certain level of professionalism over let's say a start-up that just crawled out of the garage. Unfortunately, that was not the case. The GP rep conducted the interview in the most stale, pretentious, and pointless way possible. Most good interviews are handled like an intelligent conversation and less like a sorority initiation. For extra fun, the panel was flanked with TI engineers who could have provided real insight into the role and its expectations. Instead, when they weren't nitpicking over the semantics of my responses, they just sat there like two sacks of sawdust, watching the show. There should have been a concession stand in the lobby (where the interview was actually held) so they could have purchased popcorn. I write this review not so much to vent over one experience, but to hopefully point out red flags that I am seeing all to often these days during the interview process. If a company pulls you into a P2P interview and turns the interview into anything other than a discussion about a specific job and it's requirements, proceed with caution. While respect may have to be earned, civility is just a common courtesy. If you aren't treated with as much when first walking in the door, it's not worth your time. My conclusion was that GP Strategies and its "talent specialists" have no better clue how to hire for quality professionals than Walmart does. And to the devil with TI. Whatever genius used to float through their facilities has apparently evaporated, as evidenced by the "Homer Simpson" version of an engineer on the interview panel.
