Productive Power Recruiter Interview Questions
& Process

The interview process at Productive Power was really disappointing and unique. It started with a 3-minute telephone recording, followed by three other interviews or demos, taking about 3 weeks. Despite positive feedback and being told my experience and skills were great, I was ultimately rejected with a generic email and no constructive feedback. I feel I was led on during the process. I hope the CEO is aware of the negative reviews and perceptions surrounding the recruiting process, as it seems no real changes are being made. The current recruitment team might be the issue, possibly not being specialists and handling too many tasks to do a thorough job.

I had a quick phone screen, followed by three video interviews, each about thirty minutes long. The first two interviews were really positive and went great. The third one felt less conversational and interactive. The whole process was fast, and the company was responsive. They didn't offer feedback for candidates who weren't selected, which is different from my experience recruiting for startups. I think it's more respectful as a recruiter to at least acknowledge a candidate's time and give a basic reason for not moving forward when they've gotten that far. All in all, the process was okay. The salaries for trainers and recruiters seem pretty low for my market, so I expect they'll struggle to find good people at that pay rate. Also, fewer benefits than many remote jobs. The company's product seems good, and the culture appears positive.

So I applied, and then they had me call a Google phone number to leave a recorded message with some basic info. Right after that, I got another email saying they wanted to do a Zoom interview. I chatted with a manager on Zoom for about 30 minutes. They then asked me to set up a 'mock interview' with someone else from Productive Power to see how I'd interview people. About 3 days after that mock interview, I got an email saying they were going with other candidates. That recorded message thing might seem weird, but honestly, I think it's a smart way to filter people out. As a recruiter, I can usually tell if someone's a good fit within a minute of hearing them talk based on their tone, enthusiasm, and how they communicate. If they're not a good fit during an actual interview, I feel like I have to keep going even though I know it won't work out, which wastes everyone's time. This way, Productive Power can hear someone speak and see if they're a good match without investing too much time or effort. It totally makes sense for a company that's all about efficiency and productivity. The manager I talked to on Zoom was smart and easy to chat with. She was really passionate about Productive Power and their mission and told me a lot about the job, what they expect, and the company culture. I did find out that the job posting on their website wasn't totally accurate about the role, but that was my only issue. I'd suggest renaming the job title to Recruiter and Special Project Manager to cover everything involved. The mock interview is where things went wrong for me... I totally get the idea behind it, but it felt really awkward, and I think it showed. I was supposed to be interviewing a candidate for a Software Trainer role, but this person was already an employee and was coached to ask me specific questions about the company. I studied to answer them, but when you're given scripted questions that need scripted answers, you can't really be authentic or show off your actual skills. I'd really push them to ditch the mock interview and instead ask questions that really challenge the interviewee and give them a chance to genuinely showcase their skills and experience.