Applied online. Received a request to talk with a recruiter two weeks later. That call was about 15 minutes and they forwarded my application to the the hiring manager. Talked with the Hiring Manager for 45 minutes about my time working in financial services and my interest in the role and company. The hiring manager indicated that they needed to broaden their skill sets and build up a more capable team to address increased regulatory scrutiny, poor past performance, and address new acquisitions.
I was told I would hear back in about a week as they were still screening other candidates. I received the following response:
"I wanted to update you on the status of the position.
Unfortunately, we are moving forward with another candidate due to their experience in Banking.
We felt you interviewed well, certainly qualified for this type of role, we just have a preference for banking experience. To be honest, throughout my career I have seen this trend of candidates from “outside” professions have challenges getting into banking.
If you have any questions or if you want to discuss, please don’t hesitate to give me a call."
Bizarre.