After some email discourse with a “Recruiting Coordinator” I was scheduled for an initial interview with one of Tanium’s recruiters. After introducing himself this gentleman jumped right into some technical questions that he seemed to be reading off a page. There was no mention of this being a tech screen so naturally many of the questions I was a bit rusty on and he kept commenting on how I was doing poorly on the questions. I’ve never had a recruiter pull such a bait and switch (or even try to conduct a tech screen) so this really came across as rather strange. There was no discussion of the position, my experience or anything really important, just some random and generic tech questions. The recruiter was pretty full of himself and seemed to delight in making me uncomfortable. After pointing out again that I wasn’t doing well on the questions he then told me that I might be a fit for an on-site position and asked if I was willing to relocate. The position I was interviewing for was advertised as a remote position and when I inquired why he was pushing onsite he stated that I didn’t seem qualified to work remotely. This was after just a few minutes of him asking some random tech questions. While I’ve seen this type of interview process before the wonderful people at Tanium seem to have taken it to a new level of absurdity. As I have a background in recruitment and interviewing candidates as well as training and mentoring new hires, I know the game all too well. For a company that prides itself on being bold and innovative my experience with Tanium is that they are living in the dark ages. Forcing a candidate to jump through hoops and get an A on textbook technical questions will only tell you how good they are at answering questions. When I helped build a team of IT professionals, we focused on finding out what really mattered about a new candidate – their work ethic and personal integrity, their troubleshooting ability and their understanding of customer service. The final conclusion here is simple: if a company treats you like dirt during your first interview, just imagine how they will treat you if you were actually hired? After being on the receiving end of this kind of unprofessional conduct and dishonesty from the recruiter I made the decision to end the call. The recruiter attempted to call me back but I have no desire to speak with him or anyone at this company ever again. I would advise anyone reading this to think well on what I’ve shared before applying to Tanium. Unfortunately, I have been experiencing more of this type of behavior from companies lately who seem to have no idea how to treat job candidates. My experience definitely reflected what I’ve read about Tanium in that they seem to pride themselves with an extensive interview process and raking candidates over the coals. Why anyone with a modicum of self-respect would put themselves through such an ordeal speaks volumes about this company. I have decided to rate my interview experience with Tanium as positive because my negative experience with their recruiter became the catalyst for changing my entire mindset for my new career search. This is the last time I will ever allow myself to be treated this way, and after spending the weekend researching better ways to find a better job, I feel invigorated and ready for the new challenge of doing things differently. Thank you, Tanium, for pointing me in the right direction.