This was the second job I have interviewed for with Ulta. This time it was almost a month in between when I applied and was first contacted. HR was significantly late both times to our call. Pretended they remembered me (it had been over a year) but then asked me questions they clearly had already in front of them, considering they rattled off my previous salary req easily and asked me if I was still looking in the range (then seemed annoyed I was asking for a higher number, which makes me think they only contacted me because I had a lower ask previously, which was UNDER the posted range. My new ask was at the high end of posted range since I had been promoted.) HR asked me completely irrelevant questions to the role - if they took the time to actually ask me about the role, they would have learned I have a very specific set of skills that matched the posting identically (and it is a rare role). Decided to waste time with vague general questions instead. Did not get passed on to a second round, which is laughable considering my specific experience, which again, is rare. Got advanced to more rounds for the previous role I applied to, which ended up being far too entry level, so it’s clear HR doesn’t really understand the actual roles, or they are just trying to lowball talent. Also notably, they do have an office in chicago, but HR will try to avoid talking about it and force you into bolingbrook. Made for an awkward conversation when I know multiple ulta employees who do work in the Chicago office. Heads up for ulta hq; no one from chicago wants to work in bolingbrook, and chicago is your talent pool.

The interview process was fairly quick and the person who interviewed me was very friendly. They asked a series of questions from the job itself about culture and what I would like to see.

I applied online, received a note from the recruiter a few days later. 30 mins before screener, she asked to move it (which should've been a clue)... I accommodated the move to the following week where the recruiter interview felt like a conversation, easy, no challenging questions. Then radio silence for 2 weeks. Received a note from the recruiter asking for availability for interviews for that week, provided immediately, followed by no scheduled interviews.... only to be rejected by a form letter. A month of wasted time.