I was invited to interview at GWL. I did my research, showed up on time and dressed for success. After the initial interview (2.5 hours long), the interviews were noticeably more focused on my personal and social behaviours. When I asked about the company culture, I sensed great pride in their social atmosphere. The final interview was with HR, very serious, flat and intimidating. No discussion on individual merits and how that contributes to the role. Just behavioural questions, probing for any challenges I could foresee in the role, how I would handle that or deal with different personalities. Nothing says success like being at the receiving end of a series of behavioural interview questions after meeting with 6 people and taking 2.5 business days off work (5 hours in total). No testing requested from me at any time during the process to demonstrate my abilities. No personal or business references were requested. The next day I was told they just decided to continue interviewing other candidates and I was given no constructive feedback despite my re-affirming interest and gratitude for their valuable time. In hindsight, it is more likely there was a pre-determined outcome. So it’s not personal, that is the good news. The role did not require a lengthy interview process, and yet it somehow required meeting 6 people? Any reasonable person would have anticipated an offer, not a rigid meeting with HR who stated her responsibility was to “protect the team”. While reducing the perception of bias in hiring is an important concern for employers nowadays, internal and preferred candidates can also be a barrier to a fair interview process when you consider external candidates are taking valuable time out of their busy schedules to pursue what they are led to believe is a great opportunity with real potential. A lengthy interview process with no offer and no feedback will turn off the best talent when they sense that valuable time was being wasted.

It was completely negative experience. I lost days trying to get a job. I was never asked any legal question. I was called for the third interview in person just to be judged by my look. During the interviews I was asked lot of personal questions.