I applied online for this 3- or 6-month contract role. Interview as on Microsoft Teams and some random AI video platform. The application was open ended and you must write substantial paragraphs in the answers. I didn't mind that because its gives me an opportunity to extrapolate my expertise.
Then, I was summoned by AI to make a video interview. Answer some questions and record myself in under a minute. I completed that.
Afterward, I was able to have an interview with 1 team member. Did well there.
Next, I had the interview with 2 or 3 team members, the owner and the owner's husband. The interview was set for 2-hours so they can get a real good idea of who you are. Which, to me, was very long and elaborate for an analyst, temporary, contract role, but hey I applied because I can do the work the on the contract, well as i've done with other companies and on behalf of the government of the United States. Multiple times.
They asked tricked questions, almost got me in the first half but I did persevere and answer correctly. Somewhere down the line in the interview, the owner showed up and her husband showed up quietly. He didn't introduce himself and crept in the corner window. I introduced myself to acknowledge his presence respectfully.
I have alot of experience in the GRC field as an auditor and held leadership roles in my career as well. The owner was concerned that since I was a leader in a team before, being prior military, that maybe id come in and start trying to "boss people around". Wow, even more off-putting. Further, this is the 5th interaction mind you, and they didn't even read my resume. Because at the end they were surprised that I was an auditor before.
Bossing people around is not my style, but that question was odd. The way they set it up seemed like you were joining their family by blood or marrying in. It was deeper than a full-time permanent role. This was for a contract, a temporary one at that which I had the skills to do and deliver with class. I've worked plenty of contracts before and this setup was extremely long and off-putting. worst case I figured, we'd work together temporarily or not. But they spent so much time making sure the candidate is the absolute perfect fit. It was super strange and very log interview experience that I will never repeat again.