Portland Communications Interview Questions
& Process

Started with a screening call, then had a first interview with 2 people from the team who asked about my experience and future outlook. After that, I was invited to an in-person assessment, followed by a final interview with 2 more senior people from the team.

Applied via the internal platform. Got a test via email, which involved drafting an email to a client with given info. Then had a first interview with basic questions about EU policy and my past work, interviewed by two senior consultants. Second interview had similar questions, but with a different consultant and a director.

Had a typical interview over Microsoft Teams with Sophie, the Events Manager, and one other person. She asked the questions, reading them from her computer, which would have been fine except her computer kept freezing, causing long pauses while she waited for the next question to load. Every answer I gave was interrupted by her talking about her own achievements, which wasn't really relevant and frankly, not that impressive. After about 5 minutes, I decided I didn't want to continue with the role, but I stayed polite for the whole interview. I emailed the recruitment team right after to withdraw my interest. It's a shame because I'd heard good things about Portland, but this manager seems more focused on bragging about herself than on the candidate. I can only imagine what it would be like working with her daily. If you're looking for a real job and a proper manager, I'd suggest looking elsewhere.

After submitting an application, the interview process involved 3 main stages. First, I interviewed with two people from the health team. Then, I had to complete a task, which for me was writing a press release. The final stage was an interview with senior team members. Even though I got positive feedback throughout and completed everything, I didn't hear back for three weeks. I emailed twice for an update, and they eventually called, but it was 5 hours later than they said they would. They explained the delay was due to 'annual leave and sick leave' but didn't notify me beforehand. On the call, they asked questions like 'how did you find the application process' and 'why are you interested in the company' without giving me any concrete update. They mentioned 'positive conversations' were happening and the health team liked me, but also that other candidates had more specific experience. They said the talent team would get back to me, but it had already been about a month since my final interview. I feel disrespected by the silence and lack of a decision or feedback, even though the health team members were nice and I enjoyed the actual task and interviews.