Tough interview process makes it hard for anyone to get through. Too bad they are making it extremely hard for themselves to bring anyone on board.
Phone screen with corporate recruiter - this was not a cakewalk because she quizzed me about a lot of things. Career transitions, career ambitions, 5 year plan and so on. Anyway, I was caught unaware because I was expecting that she would be calling to set up a phone screen. It turned out to be a grilling exercise.
Phone screen with hiring boss: This was very marketing focused. What is your current role? What products do you cover? Who is your audience? What are your key messages? Then finally he let me ask some questions and invited me on site.
On site interview with presentation: This was something I didn't expect. They told me I had to come prepared to present something. But to be fair to them they did give me a heads up and told me it can be about anything. But this was not easy. I was grilled by their executive team for nearly an hour on a number of things. Questions ranged from silly to extra difficult. I could see at least one of those bums chuckling to himself as they put me through the drill. These guys must revel in watching candidates get roasted. But it went well and I got the feeling everyone was super thrilled. This was followed by face to face interviews with each one of them. Overall it very well.
Interview with VP and GM: This was a total surprise. I was thrilled they were seriously considering me for the role if they wanted me to talk to the GM. They were both phone interviews and that turned out to be big mistake. Interview with the VP was smooth. He said you are a good fit. The GM called me from an airport and I could barely hear him. Looks like I was failed by his cell quality. AT&T - Fail! . The guy calls me 30 mins before his allocated time and starts talking like he is doing me a favor by calling me early. The least this guy could do was to be humble and apologize for being early. He speaks to me for all of 5 mins before he hangs up.
I waited for weeks and didnt hear anything. Finally I heard through the recruiter they had moved on. It didn't take much to figure out it was the GM that dinged me for no other reason than he probably didn't like the sound of my phone voice.