The interview process is in several stages. The first was a phone screen that went well. The recruiter was a black female and cordial. We walked through my resume and I provided commentary for each position. She advanced me to the next round.
The next round was with two C-suite Executives. One was a Caucasian female in her 50s and a presumably Haitian-American female also in her 50s with a pronounced Francophone accent. We delved deeply into the position and how my experience would translate. At times, the questions were loquacious and on the verge of being disjointed, but I was writing portions of the compound disjointedness down and answered them thoroughly. I had the distinct impression that things went very well.
The recruiter contacted me six days later to share that the organization would not be moving forward with my candidacy. I was shocked as I met the criteria put forth for the position and thought I connected well with all interviewers. She shared with me that reason the company was not moving forward was because the bulk of my experience was gained in a military setting, despite the fact that I made it very clear that my office also serves civilians not subject to military regulation. This was particularly frustrating for a number of reasons.
First, the company saw my experience when I applied and still opted to interview me. Nothing changed on my end, so to hold the source of the bulk of my experience against me after interviewing more than once was a massive waste of time.
Next, the experience discrimination against someone assisting the military who works to ensure that a company like CHG can even exist seems fundamentally flawed. So, if your experience has been gained assisting or working for the armed forces, you might be better served seeking employment elsewhere.
While one of my interviewers was a black woman, open the "About Us" page on the company website and view the leadership team. There are five men and four women and each and every member is Caucasian. The company has HQ in Utah and South Florida. If you operate in an overwhelmingly diverse area like South Florida and cannot find at least one individual who can at least tan without burning, then it stands to reason that the homogenous nature of the organization is a deliberate top-down approach.