I applied online. The process took 8 weeks. I interviewed at Protective Industrial Products in Feb 2021
Interview
The process itself was fairly standard. However the number of interviews and people involved, was a bit excessive; roughly 7-8 weeks from first interview to finals, 6 interviews overall and 4 different people involved. This lead up to the final/6th interview, where upon time for them to decide on the candidate, I was informed both the President and CEO now wanted input on this position, thereby delaying the decision by 2 additional weeks. Not really sure what info was provided to them to make any sort of educated decision or "providing of input", as they were not involved in any calls nor did I ever speak with them directly. Having not received an offer despite receiving immense positive feedback from all 4 interviewers, they went with another candidate. I only have to assume both the President and CEO had their own personal candidate in mind, which was frustrating based on their late need to be involved.
That said, I had dealt with this company on the customer side for many years and would still highly consider interviewing and taking a position with them. As an outsider who dealt directly with their Marketing and sales team for many years, they are a great company.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
After 2 interviews, they gave me a new, yet to be released, product sales sheet and asked me to put together a marketing plan for it to see how my thought process and project planning skills were used. No real direction on what they wanted for this was given, but since an interview, and looking to put best foot forward, several hours were spent on it. Upon submission a 3rd phone interview was done in order to discuss my plan. This did lead to 2 more interviews, getting me to the finals.
Note: the interviews themselves were not difficult and all people involved were quite friendly. It was simply the shear number of interviews and time on each (each over an hour when less time was initislly allotted , which I thought was also a good sign during the process) for a mid-level, non-management/direct report position.
I applied online. I interviewed at Protective Industrial Products (Latham, NY) in Sep 2017
Interview
Had a great, 1/2 hour phone interview with the CIO and was asked to come to PIP for an in person interview. Show up and notice the place is very neat and organized. Interview with the CIO first, then with two peers, and then with the CFO and the HR lady. Finally, back with the CIO and the interview concluded.
All were very nice people. The questions were fair and technical with regard to the position. All, but the peers, had a copy of my resume. I was asked all kinds of technical and professional questions and I feel that I did very well with them. This 2 hour process is one that I felt good about.
A few days later, I get feedback that they weren't interested as they felt I wasn't a take charge person and that I would not work well alone. Seriously? In my resume, and verified by my professional references, I was more than able to provide those qualities, and then some, in order to do this job well.
In my opinion, an opinion formed by someone within PIP, who didn't have the facts (or my resume) was able to come to that conclusion.
And, that's ok. "No" simply means "Next Opportunity"! :D
My advice: Have all involved with the interview process on the same page, along with a copy of the interviewees resume. It's ok to not hire someone, but at least be prepared before you come to a conclusion.
I applied through a staffing agency. The process took 1+ week. I interviewed at Protective Industrial Products in Jun 2017
Interview
The interview process felt more like a police interrogation than a job interview, as the interviewer picked apart every single detail of my resume, even questioning me on my choice of font and size. I was grilled with technical questions completely unrelated to the job description for well over an hour. They were looking for a network engineer proficient with Juniper equipment, to handle routing, switching, and network security. Instead I was interrogated on virtualization, Windows server administration, and hardly asked a single question related to networking. The interviewer outright told me that 95% of the resumes he receives never even make it past the initial phone interview, I was apparently good enough to be brought in for an in person interview and was treated like absolute garbage.
I'd rather have a root canal than interview with this company. Avoid at all costs, even the external recruiter who contacted me for it in the first place is now refusing to work with them after hearing my feedback.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Why did you pick this font for your resume? It's too small and hard to read.