I applied online before mid December, but it was not before end of January that I received an email from their HR setting up a first interview. I was surprised to be contacted as large companies usually always snub me.
As I read on many other reviews here, the people dealing with you are completely without empathy and quite 'mechanical'. They do not care really about the interview nor in setting any sort of relation to you. Their tone of voice and questions are like robots.
Being a new program, there's little or no info of AGLA on the internet. Even the job description only talks about some rotational duty between different departments (for which no experience is required) and living for a year in China at Alibaba's HQs. That's it. It was impossible to prepare an interview based on their expectations as there's not even a job description.
Anyway, I had heard they ask behavioral question so that was about it.
Interview was scheduled from California offices (I'm in Asia) with a departmental manager.
As usual the young HR person makes a huge mess with timezones and availabilities but works out eventually. 9am Skype interview. I did not have a webcam so I tell the interviewer that I cannot be seen. Anyway, the block by HR was 1hr (9 to 10am). However the interview lasts about 29 minutes. In the first half I answer common questions but then, when it's my turn to ask question, the interviewer does not even bother to explain what is it like to work at Alibaba and what the role is like or about (I imagined she may have not even know herself as AGLA is such a new project).
For everybody else wondering how this recruitment works apparently there will be 1 more round of interview if you pass the first, plus a trip to China to meet senior executive(s) for the final round.
I was told I would be notified in a week about the outcome, but considering my long experiences with interviews plus gut feelings, I can tell this was one of the worst I had in my life and nothing will come out of it.