Initial interview was brilliant, the second was a nightmare. Dodged bullet springs to mind.
Approached the company via their website and was vetted by a member of their recruiting team who advised I sounded like I would be "an ideal fit".
1st interview was with two supervisors. Went extremely well with lots of nods and verbal approval of answers. Lots of positive comments. Left feeling very good about the process.
One week later I gently nudged the recruiter for feedback. Apparently they were very busy and advised I had a second interview which was essentially a meet-and-greet with the next level manager for final sign off.
Arrived and was advised it was an interview with three interviewers. A surprise but no problem.
What followed was one of the worst experiences I have been subjected to in an interview. I would stress that I did not project a sterling performance and so I must take some of the blame for not being offered a position there. At no point however, was I rude or defensive; but I was severely tempted. Almost immediately it was implied I had lied on my CV because I used my current employer's trading name, which it is not universally known as. When I corrected him, he clearly tried to catch me out. Pointless, given that I knew my CV inside out, as well as my current employer.
The final straw was at the end when told that the lead interviewer had heard all this kind of thing from people in the past and then found they didn't deliver later on. I was left mystified as to why he would say this, and more importantly how I was connected in any way to those experiences, although the clear implication seemed to be that he didn't believe what I was saying. I felt like replying that I had experienced much incompetence over the years by managers who didn't understand how to manage effectively, or simply walk out of the interview. To my credit, I kept my composure and stayed.
I did lie at one point, I told them it had been a pleasure to meet them. Some of the questions I received are below, as are my thoughts. Their recruiting department have since advised me I was unsuccessful, and with that an offer of further feedback which I took up out of morbid curiosity. However, I am still waiting some time later. Not impressed.
I left feeling like someone had taken my genuine desire to work for what seemed to be a very highly regarded company and screw it up, and then urinate all over it for good measure. The irony is that I wanted the job at Sophos over a role I had been offered that is a quarter of the distance from home than it is to the Sophos office, more money, and with greater exposure to training and development.
Would I have chosen to waste my time interviewing if I knew then what I know now? My sense of proving myself says yes. My head screams "AVOID AT ALL COSTS".