I initially almost declined the interview because HR wanted me to provided 5 references to fill out a lengthy survey about me within 24 hours. I felt like this was kind of ridiculous considering I hadn't had the interview to see if the job was a good fit. It found it off-putting. I was able to get 5 references _ 2 have to be current or past supervisors. It was a headache for these high-level managers to fill out the survey which included 2 essay questions within 24 hours.
The interview was a panel of 3 men. One was the office mgr, a retired Army COL. The other two were project managers. They were friendly enough. One said "the person who WINS this position will..." which I found to be a red flag, considering I feel like the interview is as much about me seeing if I want to work for a company as it is about them selecting me. I feel any quality employee with self-esteem would feel this way. The interview had a slight flavor of wanting me to grovel for a job.
Anyway, the main interviewer wasn't hostile, but asked questions in a rapid fire manner and always had a sort of "prove it" follow up question. By about halfway through the interview I had decided I didn't want to work there. I had several opportunities on the table, as do most engineers in this town who are good at what they do. The travel requirements pretty much sealed it for me that I wasn't going to be interested. I made it pretty clear at the time the level of travel required would be a problem for me.
Also, when I asked the main interviewer when they would be making a decision, he said 5 weeks in the future. So, they expect a candidate to get 5 reference surveys completed within 24 hours and they aren't making a decision for over a month?? They were currently funded, btw.
I don't think they will get quality people working for them if they treat candidates this way. They will find people, but not the best people. This manner of interviewing will weed out the best people. Also, please refer to the completely inappropriate nature of the questions below. Enough said. Amazing. Dodged a bullet!