Vanguard Designer interview questions

I applied through an external recruiter. I had 2 separate screener calls with them and eventually was placed into an in-person interview on campus. Recruiter met with me on-site and prepped me just before the meeting. Was surprised to find out in that prep that they were more interested in my strategies than they were on my design. Would have been helpful to know in the 2 weeks leading up to the interview as opposed to on the spot. Brought samples of my portfolio items and had a great conversation with 2 supervisors. Walked away confident that I was a good fit and the recruiters confirmed that later. I was the only "finalist" from the first round and they would probably want me to come back in after the second round. I followed up a few times over the following 2 weeks and was eventually told they were going in a different direction and no longer wanted to meet me again.

I had two phone screens: the first was with a general recruiter, who asked me questions that I was more or less prepared to answer, and was a pleasant and positive conversation. The second phone screen was with the person in charge of the department I was interviewing for. They asked me questions that strayed significantly from their typical STAR questions and weren't all that relevant to the position in question. They mentioned one particular person that I happened to know and was disappointed to see leave the company. I now understand why they left...the person I spoke to came across as very arrogant and just wanted to see how high a candidate will jump (a tactic all the more cruel in this economy.) It's no wonder that this position has not been filled even as of this writing. No matter how destitute I may be, I won't be applying for a job at this company again.