The process was very transparent and predictable. I was informed in stage 1 (HR interview) on how it will be run and been informed of the progress in time. Stage 2 was with the Hiring Manager (Business Operations Director) and stage 3 (Panel Interview) with the business stakeholders (that I was supposed to work for as partner in the actual job).

I applied online and the recruiter contacted me over email later. After going through my skills over the phone and e-mail communications, the recruiter told me that she will set up phone interviews. My first phone interview was with the hiring manage - a senior director at Oracle. The position was for based out of Redwood City, CA - but I had all the interviews in Chicago or on the phone. It was an 1 long interview and it pretty much covered all areas of operations - and the qualities that are required in running a sales organization efficiently. The questions were mainly focused on - how do you set up incentives for sales with different sales goals and who deals with different products in different geographic areas. He asked me to explain me in my past experience how I dealt with similar scenarios in my past. He also asked me to explain my experience in dealing with financial P & Ls statements and various financial reporting. He suggested me to talk with another senior manager - who was in sales - that person would have been one of my audience. During the first 20 mins of the interview, I asked this person about the structure of the entire organization and how incentives are in place for various sales teams. He also asked me about my experiences in dealing with various sales teams ( which I had similar experience dealing with retail store managers in my previous job). He again asked me about experiences in financial reporting and scaling of operations. He suggested me to talk with another person who has been doing this job ( I was interviewing). After a couple of emails and phone calls, I had a chance to talk with this person. The job as a Business Operations Manager is responsible to run a part of the broader sales organization in a seamless manner leveraging sales and financial reporting, politically savvy, able to over communicate effectively across varied sales teams. The next round of the interviews was with a Vice President of Sales - After unable to get her on the phone once, I was able to reach her later on another day. She would have been the person to whom I would be working with on a regular basis. She asked me what I worked in my previous careers and how I can leverage my experiences to help her in running her sales organization effectively. Because of my detailed conversations with others in previous rounds of interviews, I was able to comprehend and communicate to her about my experience and how effectively I can help her in running the sales organization. I also explained her about incentives that she can have in her sales organization. The last round of the interviews is again with the hiring manager - it was a 1:1 face to face interview.But, to my surprise, I had another interview with another peer (in my new job role) of mine. This person asked again all the details of my current job and what else did I do differently in my job. I asked him in detail - how is the job and what did he learn in the past 1.5 months in the job. I also asked him about his experiences in the job. He gave a pretty positive outlook about the job. It was more than 1.5 long interview. He again asked me about my current job and how I do it differently and what are some of the things that CEO can do differently ( I was working for a Fortune 50) and why do I want to shift out of my current job. He again asked me my understanding about the role. Then he asked me about my salary expectations and then came the biggest surprise in the entire interview process. He bluntly mentioned a number atleast 30K less than what I said and what we agreed upon initially in my very first round of interview. I kept quiet because I needed an offer and then wanted to talk with them for a package. As I expected I received an offer, but I was very frustrated and disappointed with the offer. The base was very low and there was no relocation offer. This was the worst offer in terms of package that I received. I did not like unprofessional attitude that hiring manager exhibited especially when he mentioned a very lower number than we initially agreed upon.