The hiring process for me was broken up into 3 phases: an over-the-phone interview, an in-person interview with the team, and a take-home assignment.
Let's start from the beginning. I found the job post on LinkedIn and applied online. Two months after, I received an email from HR saying that the hiring manager would like to speak with me. A few days later I talked with the hiring manager over the phone. It was a typical phone screen. He told me about HID Global and the position, and I told him about my experience in web development and my interest in HID Global. He immediately asked me to move forward in the process and meet the team. I asked what the interview would be like. Would it include whiteboard questions?
I was scheduled to meet the team three days after the phone screen. I arrived on site where they were doing back-to-back interviews. I met with the hiring manager and the other two web developers on the team. We briefly talked about my background, then the conversation quickly turned into a technical interview, including a few whiteboard questions. I have no issue with whiteboard questions, but this says one of two things about the hiring manager. The hiring manager is either disorganized or deceived me. Either explanation is unprofessional. I will provide a few examples of the questions in the Interview Questions section. At the end of the interview, the hiring manager told me he would like for me to move forward in the process by completing a take-home assignment. I was to create a band website with any JavaScript frameworks such as Angular, Vue, or React and the Spotify API.
This is where things get interesting. I spent the entire week, including the weekend putting together this website for them. I went way beyond the requirements and branded the band, created a pseudo e-commerce page, custom merchandise with the logo I had created, deployed the website, and typed up a README. A week after the interview, I sent an email to the hiring manager asking how I could turn in the assignment. An hour later, I received an email from a no-reply stating they were pursuing other candidates.
If this is indicative of HID Global's values, I want nothing to do with them. They intentionally wasted my time. This situation could have been avoided if they either told me at the end of the on-site interview that they were not sure if I should move forward or if they allowed me to turn in the take-home assignment. The could have been honest. I have no problem with rejection; as a junior developer, I have been turned down from many jobs. My problem is how they unprofessionally lead me on. I suspect they don't value the time of other candidates and their employees. Do not apply here.
