I had been in contact with Jacobs Engineering for 6-9 months prior to having an in person interview in their Bellevue Washington Office. It had been communicated to me through these conversations prior to travelling to Washington, that they were very interested in me but needed to make sure that what I was looking for in terms of career type, compensation, etc. would be possible so as to not waste either parties time. In January 2017 I was asked to come out to Seattle, a trip which I paid 100% of the costs for, to meet in person and discuss opportunities which they were interested in me for. I agreed to come out to Seattle, a trip that required around $750 in flights and rental cars, as well as 2 days of personal time off from my current employer. The whole experience was incredibly unorganized to the point that I wasn't even given concrete times to interview until 8:00pm the night before my interview. They had also set up another interview for me, in which I was given 1 hour notice to get to the opposite side of the greater Seattle metro area for a lunch meeting with a project manager.
The Bellevue interview was an incredible waste of my time. The first question asked was "What do you even want to do at Jacobs?", which my few answers were quickly beat down and compared to how the interviewer had way more experience than I did, and that my experience in those areas isn't relevant. As the interview went on, I was informed multiple times within the first 5-10 minutes that I don't have any experience they are interested in, and that I really don't fit the type of applicant they would consider for employment. I have a professional engineering license with 6 years of industry experience, and after a 60-90 minute interview was informed that they could maybe bring me in as a junior project inspector, which is essentially a new graduate position, and in my opinion a professional slap in the face. I was essentially only look for a Project Engineer type position, which with my licensing / experience is an appropriate level within an organization to target.
I have no problem being told that a company is not interested in me for employment, but the issue I have with Jacobs is that they directly informed me that they didn't want to waste my time, and that is exactly what they did. To ask me to fly out to Seattle, on my own dime, to just tell me that I am not what they are looking for is incredibly unprofessional. That conversation could be handled over a phone call, or honestly a rejection email. This interview cost me around $1500 including travel expenses and lost time costs.