ICIS Interview Questions
& Process

I had a really good interview experience. First, a recruiter called to chat about the job and then I got an online assessment. After that, I had an in-person interview which included a writing task and then a chat with the hiring manager. I really liked talking with the hiring manager; it was more like a relaxed chat than a stressful interview. It was a good chance to learn about the job and company vibe, and for them to get to know me. It all went pretty smoothly. Since the hiring manager asked about salary, I thought an offer might be coming, but nope. HR did a good job keeping me in the loop though, which was nice. I saw the job is still up, so maybe they're being super picky. Hope they find someone great!

So, the first couple of interview rounds went pretty smoothly, and the hiring manager seemed cool. But then, the last round, which was in person at their office with three other people, was a whole different story. I presented my take-home assignment, and I could tell they were totally checked out and not impressed. They said my work wasn't enough. It was pretty rough because they'd asked me to design and present a dashboard in just two hours, a task that normally takes months, and the brief was super complicated with tons of variables. Instead of giving helpful feedback on my ideas, they just mocked them, which felt really rude and arrogant, not constructive at all. After they ran out of things to criticize, the manager just threw out generic questions like 'Why design?' and 'Why ICIS?', but it was obvious he didn't care about the answers. He had this cocky, dismissive vibe. Then, it came up that I had a referral, and he started laughing like crazy, turned to the first interviewer, and said, 'Ahh, I get it now,' then just kept laughing. I felt so humiliated, honestly. I wanted to just leave, but I stuck around. By the end, the room was super tense, and even the other interviewers looked uncomfortable. A few hours later, my referral let me know I wasn't moving forward, which is how I found out it was over. It's a bummer because I was really into the company and the product, but it seems like the leadership here thinks it's okay to make fun of people's work and make them feel like idiots. Just a heads-up to other designers about that final interview stage – they said stakeholders could be tough, but this was way beyond that, it was genuinely dehumanizing.

Applied online, had a telephone call with HR, then got invited to an interview and do a written assessment. The interview was okay, with general questions about my CV and experience, plus a couple of scenario questions. The written assessment was also okay, the first part had some numeracy questions, and the second part was a case study on gas prices. They said they'd get back in due course, which is fair enough. I will say they were very responsive throughout the interview process up until I submitted the case study. It's been over a month now, I've emailed multiple times asking for an update but still no reply and no closer to finding out the status of my application. Very poor, I don't have a problem with being rejected, but ICIS are lacking some basic courtesy.

The interview process kicked off with a group interview involving about 18 people split into 3 groups. We were told that candidates moving to the next stage would be notified early the following week. On Friday, myself and one other person were invited for a second, one-to-one interview. Apparently, an internal recruiter found me, and the other candidate was sourced by an agency. The agency candidate got their second interview invite a day before I did, and our interview times got shifted around a few times. The second interview was really intense, and at times felt a bit unprofessional. The interviewer said they'd decide that same day and let both of us know early the next week. The other candidate heard back on Tuesday, two days after their interview. A month later, I still haven't heard anything, despite sending a few emails. I really expected better communication given the company's reputation. I feel pretty let down, especially since I took two days off work and paid for travel to London twice. In hindsight, I'm actually glad I didn't get the job because I wouldn't want to work for a company that doesn't respect people's time and money.