National Journal Interview Questions
& Process

I got contacted by a recruiter after applying online. The recruiter seemed really uninterested in the role and the company, and frankly, in interviewing me. She asked some vague questions and didn't seem to care about my answers, cutting me off before I could finish. When I tried asking her questions, she brushed me off, making it clear I wouldn't be getting the job. I'm not sure why she even agreed to talk to me.

I reached out directly to the hiring manager on LinkedIn and was then referred to HR for an initial interview. After that, I spoke with the hiring manager, followed by a 2-hour onsite interview. The onsite included a presentation I had to give to two team members, then an interview with them. Next, I had a culture interview with someone external to the organization. My final interview was with the VP. It was difficult to get feedback or know the next steps as the manager interviews happened first. Except for the presentation, the interviews were pretty standard, mostly involving explaining yourself to different people. The culture interview had a set of prepared questions, and I felt they were looking for a very specific candidate, making it challenging to answer perfectly. They were flexible when I had to reschedule due to illness.

I had a 30 minute phone interview with a senior analyst and then a panel interview. They all asked specific questions about stakeholders in various industries and it was very formal -- they reacted negatively when I tried to make conversational. The panel assured me that I did not need to know specific information about the case interview topic but seemed very unimpressed when I really didn't know much about the industry they aggressively asked me about (I work in the health sector and I was asked about technology). They had a very dry response to questions about company culture which seemed scripted and forced.

Even after a few interviews, it seems like ghosting is pretty common. I applied, and the recruiter got back to me pretty fast. They wanted to have what they called an "interview," but it was really just a screening call the next day with the hiring manager. The screening call lasted about 30 minutes, and the hiring manager asked me basic questions about my background and some stuff you'd see on Glassdoor. After that, I was asked to do a case study within 3 days. The instructions weren't super clear, but you could ask questions before submitting. I submitted my case study, and then heard nothing for a week. I followed up, and they said they'd email me back soon, but they never did. Ghosting really seems to be how they communicate. They never followed up with a rejection or any next steps. Smaller and bigger companies don't have this problem, but they do. Just sending a generic rejection email would save everyone time.