The applied for one role but HR had a look at my background and suggested Conference Producer. I would have preferred Online Content, but it was not available.
My first round was a nice conversation with a man from HR. I was rerouted to him from a woman who said that advised that Conference Producer was better suited to my skills. I wanted to work in a particular sector of theirs, so I proceeded with caution. The telephone screening included questions like why this company, what I knew about the industry and any current events related to it. It was pretty easy.
Second round was F2F at their office near Victoria. My initial impressions included that it felt the office had a high turnover and lack of detail, such as I subscribe to the Economist and the editions on their table were at least four months old, the conversations of clarifying something"again" with the people who passed by, and the lobby displayed prominently the employees winning awards in photos. Photos only displaying awards won and not perhaps photos of the employees working on the conferences, giving more of a background perspective, instantly said to me that the employees and teamwork are of lower value than the work they attempt to accomplish.
The F2F interview consisted of two men, one in a senior position and another in a junior, who kept quiet and was an observer. Even when I asked him a question, the man in the senior position answered for him. (MASSIVE STRIKE).
The man in the senior position, I would describe as arrogant. He likes to talk shop but a few things he said, within the industry, were incorrect. He would ask me questions, I would answer, and he would rephrase them incorrectly. We disagreed on a few things and it was clear, even if I was desperate for a job, I wouldn't have taken this one. He would have been a nightmare to work for.
The interview concluded if I was applying for other conference producing roles. Someone should have told him that this was not the original role I applied for, and seemed impatient that I enquired about the content writer role. Luckily, it was a day of interviews for me, as I had an interview in the morning for another role that was more into analysis in the sector I am pursuing. This other organisation offered me the role immediately, and I will be now the type of person IQPC would go after to attend their conferences, which I would respectfully decline. Having looked at their whitepapers and their outdated podcast, I hope IQPC realise that the brand impression they are promoting appears outdated.
The interview lasted exactly 45 minutes. But one thing this arrogant man did say really struck me personally. He claimed that employees of a certain intelligence organisation attend their events. Well, my partner is such an employee, and he nor his colleagues have ever heard of such conferences produced by IQPC. What I don't tolerate is liars. MASSIVE RED FLAG.
It's been two weeks now and I haven't heard anything from them, but I have already accepted a position that is not conference producing but rather something more technical in the sector.
I did learn a few years ago that this company was very difficult and unprofessional and I see things have not changed.