I applied online and got an email the next day asking if I would be available for a phone interview. After a brief (about 10 minute) phone interview with pretty basic "Tell us about yourself" kinds of questions, I was asked to come in for my first in-office meeting to take a few grammar and typing tests--nothing big, I was assured. I was also asked to bring in a hard copy of my resume, cover letter, unofficial college transcripts, and a completed copy of the company's official application (which was pretty tedious and redundant, given that all that information was in my online application and on my resume). I had my phone interview on a Monday and my "testing day" was scheduled for Friday of that week.
When I got to the office for my assessments, I had to wait about 15 minutes before someone came out to greet me and take me back. The person I had been corresponding with was not in the office--I met with the "HR Assistant", who was not particularly friendly. I was taken directly back to a tiny room in the back of the office, their "Testing Room", and given a 90 question IQ test. I wasn't quite expecting that from what I was told, but I did the best I could. Some questions were pretty tricky. That part took a little over an hour. Then I was given the next set of tests: a page where I had to edit and correct mistakes in sentences, a page where I had to choose the correct word to fit the sentence in terms of grammar (effect/affect stuff), a page where I had to choose the correct spelling of commonly misspelled words, and several personality inventory kinds of assessments. After about an hour of that, I was asked to do an online typing test. After that , the HR manager came in and spoke to me for about 5 minutes, but was very hurried and didn't really have time to answer many questions. After about 2 and a half hours of being there, I was led back to the door.
I got a phone call the following Tuesday asking to come in for an official in person interview that coming Friday. Again, I was made to wait about 15 minutes before being seen. I was brought in to the meeting room with 2 HR people (one of whom was the one who had met me the last week, though she had little recollection of any of our brief conversation). They asked pretty standard interview questions...what are your strengths and weaknesses, what do you look for in a supervisor, how do you prioritize tasks...They allowed me to ask a few questions, but didn't really answer them very clearly. It only took about 25 minutes.
I got a call the following Tuesday asking me to come in for another in person interview, where I would also meet the CEO. That meeting wouldn't take place until Wednesday of the following week. I didn't have to wait quite as long this time. I met with the CEO for a few minutes. He asked me some questions about things I liked about previous jobs and why I had left other positions, and what other kinds of jobs I was applying for. After that one of the HR people came in to ask more questions, which was annoying only because half of them were the same questions they had asked me the last time I had been there. They told me they would be in touch in the next few days about possibly scheduling yet another interview for the "finalists". I couldn't imagine what else they could possibly ask me about.
Two days later, I got a very brief email saying they were sorry but they could not offer me a job at this time. Part of me was relieved. You would have thought I was interviewing for the CIA and not an Administrative Assistant position. I wasn't sure how I felt about the seemingly high maintenance office. After spending over 4 hours over 3 and a half weeks interviewing and testing for the position, I would have appreciated a little more than a 1 sentence email turning me down. From what I gathered, they really wanted a person who had no drive to do anything or move beyond the Front Desk position. When I asked about opportunities for advancement within the company, they didn't seem to thrilled and gave a very vague response.
The good thing was that the pay they were offering for the position was very generous (between 41-47,000). The cons of the company is that everyone is expected to work a 45 hour week (the hours were 9-6:30, with a 1/2 hour lunch). They talked about what a fun work environment it was, but no one I met with seemed particularly friendly. If they had offered me the position, I probably would have taken it (mostly because of a generous salary for a pretty basic position), but in a way I was relieved not to make it to the "finalists". I have a feeling I wouldn't have been happy with the company.