I have applied the role through online and gotten the 1st interview online. The overall interviewing process was good and informative HOWEVER.... when I was been invited for 2nd round interview with the CEO on the following day (face-to-face), things was nasty.
2nd round interview with CEO:
First impression with the CEO was bad, he straight away mentioned to me that he does not want to interview me and it is a waste of his time but due to that the team wanted to recommend my profile, he has no choice but to have this session with me.
At the start when I introduced myself, I did sense his unwillingness to listen but believe that I am just doing sale pitching about myself. He questioned about my loyalty on my previous role but I was been layoff due to company closure due to COVID-19. Despite I explained, he went through my CV and started questioning about my degree education (which is 10-12 years ago) comparing with people who has higher honor class. I think that due to my degree certification does not has a Honor class, I am not analytical enough... I mentioned about the analytical experience I had from my work experiences but he does not believe I am good enough. I had my Master Degree with a reputable university but he still does not think the university was good.
He disbelief that I am willing to take pay-cut and be committed as he has a lot of experiences from his company that people leave sooner that he expected. He disbelief that why people want to join his company as his company has been making losses for past years.
I asked about the future plan of the company on how to turnover to a loss making business to profitable business, he avoided that questions and keep provoke me on my pay, my education and even towards my personal life (questioning my parents, my marriage life etc...).
I have shared a lot on my commitment and my work experiences, and how I can bring value to the company but he still disbelief what i have said.
My overall experience with him are the worse out of my entire career. I am a Senior Management before and I can understand his concern over hiring people. However, I sense a lot of negative vibes as well as being disrespectful to the candidate. I felt insulted by him.
My point here is that.. if the company or management has given a chance for the candidate over an interview, he/she should give a chance to him/her and start to understand if the candidate is fit for the role/culture... likewise.. the candidate is also assessing if he/she is fit for the culture or role.
Being affected by COVID-19 is not my fault, Being having your company making losses and does not believe that people will want to work for the Company isn't my fault.
If the management does not want to meet the candidate, please do not waste his/her to invite him/her to the interview and start insulting the candidate.
Everyone's time is precious and not because you are CEO, you are more previous than the rest. As a candidate, I also take time to come for the interview also.
I totally does not recommend this Company as from the interview, it tells a lot about the culture.
My advise to the Management: Be more respectful to people. Do not waste people's time if you disbelief in anything.