I applied online through their website after finding the position on Glassdoor. After two days, I received a response from an HR representative on setting up an interview with her. I needed to supply a transcript and my resume, and we scheduled it for a few days after that.
The first two interviews were pretty standard. Both asked scripted questions. The second one, the one with a Training Coordinator, was way more enjoyable because she threw the script out the window and we actually had a conversation. Both lasted about 30 minutes.
On the day of the final Interview at HQ, I was greeted by a nice young woman from HR and she started giving me a tour of their giant facility. The company is growing and there was a ton of open space. You could tell from the tour that they were trying to emulate the big software companies. After the tour, the woman from HR placed me in a small room and asked me to take a 30 min IQ test. She did not come back for 50 minutes, so I was sitting by myself for quite a while. When she came back, she took my test and said the interviewers would be in shortly.
This is where the interview went south for me. I waited an additional 20 minutes just for the interviewers to show up. Two training Coordinators walked in and introduced themselves. One of the young ladies seemed like she was new since she didn't ask any questions, so I basically had a one on one. I was first asked to talk a little about myself. Immediately after I started talking, the main interviewer slouches and rests her head on her hand. Not only did she do this after EVERY one of the questions, she kept looking at her watch.
After some obviously scripted questions, she asked me to solve a brain teaser on the board in front of them while I wrote and talked out my thought process. I got hung up in the middle of it because the two interviews suddenly started talking to each other about what they were going to do the rest of the day. This was very distracting and I was unable to solve the equation as fast as I would have liked since I kept checking to see if they were paying attention! Once I solved the problem, they told me to take 5 minutes (alone) to prepare a 5 minute lesson on anything so they could evaluate my teaching ability. I gave the presentation and the same thing happened. They spoke to each other while I was speaking, and when they were actually paying attention, the main interviewer, again, rested her head on her hand and kept checking the time.
Finally, I had a chance to ask questions. The answers given by the main interviewer came with a tone like I was asking dumb questions. I asked them about why they are growing so quickly, what separates them from their competitors, and more about the role. So nothing out of the ordinary when it came to interview questions. This was incredibly demeaning.
To end the interview, they said they had to run to a meeting and that it was a pleasure to meet me (as if they meant it) and were on their way. 10 minutes after they left, another HR rep came in to talk with me and gave me the card of a completely different HR person. She told me the reviewing process could take up to two weeks. My time at HQ took a little over 2 hours, but only about an hour of actual interview. This was absolutely the most unprofessional interview I have ever done.
The following Monday (3 business days) I received an email from an HR rep- one I never met or spoke to- to tell me that I was not offered because my, "qualifications do not currently match [FAST's] needs." This got me riled up. If my qualifications were an issue, why did they waste my time interviewing if I wasn't qualified for the position? My qualifications are outlined on my resume! Isn't that something HR should catch before or during the first interview? I don't even understand how my qualifications weren't a match to begin with. I am an engineer who has experience in customer-facing roles, problem solving, communication, and training professionals in software. That's pretty much the job description for their Training Coordinator role! Plus, I wasn't even given a chance in the final interview to showcase my skills because the actions and body language of the interviewers told me they made up their minds before even speaking with me.
I would have been much happier if they had told me any other reason: I failed the IQ test, I wasn't enthusiastic enough about FAST, or I didn't properly teach my chosen subject. It makes me think there is another superficial reason for not offering me if they have me the most generic rejection ever. Regardless of why I didn't get offered, I still had a pretty bad experience. The first interview was okay, the second one was quite enjoyable, and the last one was a horrible experience. In the end, I guess I don't really know what they want in a Training Coordinator if I know that I am qualified for the role. I just found this to be a huge waste of time...
