I've applied to, and been rejected from, a lot of jobs. But this is the firs time I've felt compelled to write a review of an interview. Easily the most disrespectful I've ever encountered.
I applied at the end of Oct/Early Nov 2021 to a scientist position in a flow cytometry group. I heard from the hiring manager within a week or two and we set up a phone screen early/mid Nov 2021. The phone screen went well and she said she needed to send me through their hiring acquisitions department, and it might take some time. I didn't hear back from this department until Feb 2022. I had emailed the hiring manager in Dec asking for any sort of update, and was ghosted by her.
Once I finally heard back from the hiring group things seemed to proceed normally, MS teams interviews were scheduled promptly with the relevant people at BMS. Initially, the MS teams interview was to be on the same day back to back with no break for lunch, but due to scheduling issues my interview was split over two Fridays a week apart.
Interview day finally comes and things were more or less what I've experienced in other interview settings. Except for one person. One of my interviewers was the director of the entire department, who started off the interview by telling me I had given a great seminar. To which I informed him that my seminar was next week. He said 'oh now I can see your face, sorry about that'. He asked me where do T cells come from in the body, which is a borderline offensive question for someone of my experience level. Further, he was the only person not to turn on his camera during the interview. I understand that interviews are low priority for the people at the director level, but it was so blatantly obvious that he didn't care it was almost funny. Other than the director, this day of interviews was about average.
Second day of interviews come where I have a few one on ones and my seminar. One of the interviewers was a new hire at BMS, who had been hired a few months prior. He seemed like he really didn't want to be interviewing, and further couldn't really answer many of my questions about BMS because he was so new. Things again were strange when I arrived at my seminar time. Apparently, the MS teams room where I was to give seminar was different than the interview room I had used for all prior interviews. I was scheduled to start at 4pm, and I emailed the hiring coordinator at 4:15 assuming that maybe the time on my schedule was wrong. The hiring coordinator never got back to me, and the hiring manager came into the room I was waiting in and directed me to the correct room at about 4:20. I should also note that at the top of the scheduled provided by BMS it reads 'Please direct applicants to their next room'. Was this a test? I have no idea.
I gave my seminar and it seemed to go well, plenty of questions and back and forth. I was informed that they would make their decision the next week. It's been 3 weeks now, and I haven't heard anything. I emailed the hiring manager after a week for any sort of update, and again was ghosted.
At this point, I know I didn't get the job . BMS knows I didn't get the job. The hiring manager knows I didn't get the job. Why not just tell me? I know in a few weeks I'll get the automated form email saying that they went with a different candidate.
I've applied to BMS multiple times in different positions and roles, because I ultimately believe in their CAR technology, but this will be my last.