After submitting an online CV, I was contacted by HR via a phone call. They wanted to set up both a 30 minute HR screening call and a 30 minute in person interview with the lab. The HR screening call was a normal job interview conversation. They asked a lot of behavioral questions and why I was interested in the job. Unfortunately, the HR person was unable to answer some key questions I had about the actual job, such as who is the head of the lab (the job posting was a very generic one and their website lacks real info on their research labs). Thus, I was going into the actual interview without knowing who I was to talk to and exactly what they research (beyond it being a cancer research lab). The lab manager was early to meet me (10 min.) - making it awkward because I'd planned in time to use the restroom first and had to ask if that was okay. The PI of the lab seemed like he had no idea that he'd be doing an interview, couldn't coherently explain the work he does, hadn't looked over my CV, and refused to let me give detailed answers to his complex questions (he would cut me off after I stated step 1 of 3). Plus, his accent made it really difficult to understand what he was saying. He also seemed ignorant of how most postdoctoral positions work and described basics as though I should have been shocked and discouraged by them. The in person interview was the worst I've ever experienced.
