I was invited to interview for the position by a company recruiter who came across my profile on LinkedIn. Although I was not looking to leave my current job at that time, I was curious enough to begin the process.
After an exchange of emails over 7-10 days with the recruiter, we finally nailed down a date/time for a phone interview -which when well enough that I was invited to two additional separate follow-up interviews with current employees at Regent who were members of the team on which the open position resided. By this time, I had become very interested in the position as that both employee interviewers told me they thought I'd be a great fit with their team based upon skills and experience as well as the conversations we had during said interviews.
Approximately one week later, the recruiter called to let me know that he received solid, positive feedback regarding the two interviews and was going to recommend me as one of three finalist to the hiring manager for an additional interview. He noted that two finalists would then be brought down to the company's HQ in Virginia for a final live interview.
Finally, after another 5-7 days and two rescheduled interview attempts (the company twice cancelled within 24 hours of an agreed upon day/date), I interviewed with the hiring manager. Right at the get-go, I had a feeling that she was simply going through the motions; she twice interrupted my answers to her questions when she became distracted by some kind of activity going on in her car -yes, she was conducting the interview while driving her car somewhere. My reaction each time was a light chuckle to signal her that it was cool, etc., -no big deal. After each disruption, she would then return back to me with a new question rather than asking me to resume answering the previous question.
Finally, after approximately 7-9 minutes deep into the interview, she interrupted me a third time saying that she suddenly had to go and that Regent would be in touch. I knew at that point that my candidacy was dead in the water.
Approximately one week later -after not hearing anything from the company- I emailed the original recruiter to find out what the status was on things, etc. His response said that they decided to proceed forward with the other two finalists and thanked me for my time. I then replied back with the standard thank-you and good luck wish, etc.
What stuck with me the most about the final stages of the process was how unprepared, unorganized and unprofessional the higher manager conducted herself as well as the interview. Going forward, I would not recommend this company to anyone seeking employment.
