An HR recruiter calls you for a brief phone screen going over the job position, salary and benefits. If you accept, then they ask you to come in to their main office for a group interview. The group interview asks some situational but mostly standard interview questions and to have each person go around and share their answers. Slightly off tangent but I felt bad because group interviews can be nerve-racking for some, especially those with anxiety in which unfortunately one member in my group interview had and had to step out. The wait time was less than a week to do a skills test at the main office which was the next step (4 components, 1 excel and 3 word documents you have to create, very easy for those proficient in both programs). Within the week, I was contacted to have an interview with the Executive Director. The interview with the Executive Director (from the Crisis Center) went well and she offered me after our interview however, I declined because the role was very different from what I had expected (more of personal assistant than overall admin assistant).

I got an email from the current Senior Administrative Assistant of the Executive Director of Crisis Services asking me if I'd be interested in an interview. We scheduled things, and it all went pretty smoothly. A week later, I drove to San Leandro, walked into the front office, and waited for the Director to show up. The wait time was good; it only lasted a few minutes. I was then greeted by the Director, and we walked over to where her office was. The overall interview process was pretty standard, but there was one thing that went wrong: Mid-conversation, she stopped us so that she could text/ send an email/ whatever on her phone. I then proceeded to sit there in awkward, uncomfortable silence, for at least 5 minutes. I know that 5 minutes isn't very long in the big picture. HOWEVER. As an interviewer, you must know that the interviewee is already extremely nervous and receptive of any signals you are giving them. So, to the interviewee, 5 minutes feels MUCH longer than it really is. And pulling such a rude stunt in the middle of an interview shows that you do not have respect for the person who is showing interest in working for you and your company. I have never been in this kind of situation before. Anyways, after that happened, we continued with the interview. The Director seemed extremely terse and distant, which also was a bad sign for me. In the end, she started seeming less and less interested in what we were doing, like she had somewhere better to be. When I asked her my questions that I had for her, she gave me very short and sometimes unhelpful answers. I know that she is a busy woman, and the fact that she was giving me such a bad vibe was just a standard, tell-tale sign that I was not the right candidate. My only problem is, however, that she seemed disinterested right from the get-go. If you already knew that I wasn't a good fit for this position, why did you even bother to interview me in the first place? So much time, gas money, effort, and stress could have been spared if you did us both the favor of not reaching out to me in the first place. Since you did do so, at least give me the basic respect that professionals give to each other. One more thing: At the end of our interview, the Director told me that they would get back to me with a decision within the next week. It had been more than two weeks until they got back to me. I understand that you are extremely busy and that interviewing may not be the top priority right now. But don't say things that you don't mean. Even a "We honestly don't know when we'll get back to you" would have been better, because then I wouldn't be confused and concerned when one week goes by and I don't even get an update email.