The process seemed normal. Initial email to ask about availability for teams call - great. Confirmed. Had the teams call with HR. Very professional and quite easy going. Good back and forth chat, asking relevant questions, as you would expect. Informed next step would be a call with CEO. Date and time confirmed via teams again. No show for interview. Phoned office number I was able to find and previous meeting running late - fair, however you would think a quick teams message or email would have been the thing to do, instead of having someone wait in teams call “lobby” for 15 minutes. Once on call, it was a bit hectic and rushed. However again, only I guess second stage of this interview process? So wasn’t sure what the normal procedure was. After getting through this with CEO, I was invited through for a face to face interview. I’m not really sure how to describe that experience if I’m honest. I was prepared with relevant examples of experiences that would show I would be a good fit for the role, however I was asked questions that I can only describe as irrelevant. Very bizarrely what my parents did for work and if they had education to degree level. I’m not sure how that would be at all important to an account manager role, which in fairness did sound a bit more like cold calling and chasing folk rather than liaising with customers or finding own leads through proper research. I will admit, given that I had three separate interactions with the company, probably totalling 3-4 hours and travel, it was rather disappointing to then receive a standard “unsuccessful” template email the same day, rather than any feedback or explanation as to what they were looking for and why I would not fit into the position. I cannot fault the HR manager I spoke with, very nice and personable, however CEO experience was rather confusing and honestly the most bizarre interview experience I have had.

First interview with HR in which their camera was turned off, fairly unsettling and obviously not a good way to approach interviews, Second interview with CEO where I was warned to not be “intimidated” by him. Luckily, I am not intimidated by people like him, however the interview was bizarre and unprofessional. He had clearly never even looked at my CV, and immediately started stating reasons why I would be unsuitable for the job. Despite this I was asked back for a trial and later given an offer, despite it being clear that I wasn’t the right fit for them from the get go, ending up with me being let go a few weeks later. Don’t offer the job in the first place, even if you are desperate to “fill” a space. You are just wasting people’s valuable time!