I was contacted by phone to set up an interview for the Outdoor Programs Market Coordinator position at REI. I was told this would be a group interview, and was required to attend this to be considered for the Market Coordinator position.
When I arrived at the group interview, there were about 20 other people there. When the presentation began, they announced the interview was for a Sales Associate position, and those of us who were present and interested in the Market Coordinator position would later be contacted after the group interview to set up individual interviews, as it was stated the Sales Associate position was completely different responsibilities.
The group interview lasted almost 2 hours, and was completely focused around a Sales Associate based interview. We were all told that we would each be contacted by the next week regarding the positions. It was reiterated that those present for the Market Coordinator position would be receiving calls to each be scheduled for individual interviews.
I received a call a week later, and was told they were "going in a different direction" for the Market Coordinator position. I asked what that meant, because I had not yet been contacted to set up an interview that I was told several times I would be contacted for. They said they had decided to hire another candidate, and could not give me a reason as to why an interview had never been set up.
Very unprofessional process. I would expect more from an established company.