I received a call while at lunch with a colleague right beside me, person did not ask if now is a good time to talk, just started asking questions what can you tell me about the company, I said I had not looked at it as yet when applying and mentioned that I was not aware of the interview being today I assumed it was another day. They then asked me about the role, I started to explain a bit of what I recalled they said the role requires a lot of attention to detail and ended the call. My colleague found out I was looking for another job even though I was trying to filter my responses and things became awkward after that.

Stage 1. 15 minute telephone interview. Why do you want this job? What makes you a good fit? etc. Stage 2. About a week later. Met with a PA/Office Manager who asked generic questions for 10 minutes (favourite piece of tech, dealing with difficult people in work etc). Then sat down to do the 20/30 competency questions on a computer, which were very basic and nothing to worry about. I then met one of the founders of the company who quizzed about background/experience/why this role/why this great company etc. Quite intense and unwelcoming to be honest, but this is the interview style of choice for some. Stage 3. 'Assessment Day' which occurred two weeks later. You are given 5 project management related tasks; drafting emails to clients, producing a presentation regarding an extra website feature, drafting an email justifying an added client expense etc. I then met a Head of PM and did a 15 minute role play; pretending as if they are a real client. This involved talking through the presentation and explaining the extra costs that the client will have to incur. Relatively simple and really just a test to see how you cope under pressure. If you are confident you will be fine. Offered the position a week later but decided to decline based largely on two reasons; 1. The INSANE contract. I can't believe anyone would agree to this. You are tied into a training contract valued at £20k, which you have to pay back if you leave within 4 years. The valuation methods used to reach this supposed £20k are HIGHLY questionable, i.e. it is ridiculous to value the training at £20k based on what you purported to be given. Especially considering the cost of a masters degree, which would be a much better option. You are basically putting yourself in a potential position of considerable debt, should you need to leave early for any reason. Any company that would draft this type of contract is guaranteed to not care about it's employees and that is the bottom line. 2. The company seems quite unprofessional in their approach around the entire recruitment process. I was made to feel like a burden, as opposed to being treated like a valuable asset, which every prospective employee of every single company in the world is. I would not join here unless you are prepared to inevitably be extremely unhappy for 4 whole years.