FM Interview Questions
& Process

The interview process was handled by a third party, and the HR representative was very professional. However, the questions asked seemed to align more with a Solution Architect role, covering initial contact and salary discussions, even though the position advertised was for a Senior Developer. The rejection reason cited was a lack of architecture experience, which was confusing given that all discussions and the job description were for a Senior Developer, not a Solution Architect.

The interview process involved three interviews and a meet-and-greet with a current consultant engineer. The first interview, lasting 30 minutes, focused on my experience and was pretty standard. The second interview was the challenging part. They flew me in for a 4-hour session with the hiring manager and training director. It was heavy on behavioral questions, so definitely practice your 'describe a time when...' stories. You'll need to think fast; they might ask you to explain a system's function just by looking at pictures. I also had to present my own scenario about a facility, explaining it from the engineer's viewpoint for this role. It wasn't super technical, more about seeing if I could observe and understand things. The third interview was with the manager via Zoom and was similar to the first one. This is a good time to ask your bigger-picture questions. After that, I met with someone currently in the position, which was great. They were really open about any concerns I still had. It was a really positive experience overall, and they really stressed making sure YOU know as much as possible about the job. They appreciate it when you ask a lot of questions, so have all your questions ready.

The whole process took about three months. It started with an initial phone call which was the screening. I tried to follow up via email a week later, but got no response. Then the recruiter contacted me on LinkedIn, encouraging me to apply as if she didn't know me, which was annoying. I didn't hear back for two months until they scheduled an in-person interview. I interviewed with three different people who all asked me the same questions, so a panel interview would have been more efficient. A few weeks later, I got the job offer with a really low salary, much lower than I asked for. They seem to focus on great benefits to make up for low pay. I only accepted because of the benefits.

The initial screening phase felt like a waste of time. The recruiter reached out to me, but it seemed like they hadn't really reviewed my background before our call. They started by asking if I met a qualification that was super obvious on my profile, then told me I wasn't qualified. After that, they asked about relocation, which wasn't even in the job description, and then repeated that I wasn't qualified. I was really excited about this role and had prepared for an hour, researching the company and the role, and thinking of questions. It was discouraging to not be treated like a person and feel like my time wasn't valued. I would have happily answered those questions before they even scheduled the screening.