The first step of the hiring process is the CV screening, where candidates are asked to fill in some situational / behavioral questions online about their past experiences, besides providing a presentation of themselves and their resume. Upon passing this step, candidates are sent an online test, which is the usual numerical test where you have to interpret graphs and tables. The only difficult part is the timeframe, as each question (which might not be straightforward at all) has to be answered in approx. one minutes. If they pass this step, candidates are invited to a phone interview, held by a Londinese external agency, that lasts approx. 30 minutes and is based on behavioral questions (e.g. "tell me a case where you showed your ability to overcome this and this obstacle"; "tell me a case of success where you worked in team to solve a problem" etc). The thing I didn't like is the impersonality of the interview: the interviewer speaks in an extremely "mechanical" way, without making any feeling emerge, as she was doing it for the thousandth time in a row and was not even paying attention to what you are saying. You don't have the chance to let emerge your true "nature" as you have to strictly answer her questions and after a minute that you're answering she interrupts you to ask the next question, with this "mechanical" voice and attitude that is pretty annoying.

Approached by a recruitment company, I was presenting my paper at a young members technology conference. Had a chat over coffee, met a manager for an informal interview the next day, then was invited to an assessment centre the following week. Received a job offer the day after. (This was in November, the programme was starting the following September)