I applied based on a job posted in LinkedIn for SharePoint developer/analyst position for Bangalore, India location - applying for the job was a laborious process where they gather pretty much all details with regards to your experience, skill set, education.
The initial telephonic interview happened 2 weeks after applying for the post. The 1 hour interview was well organized with the first 15 minutes devoted to setting context followed by 5 minutes to provide a background on my career so far and then there were about 30 minutes of technical and scenario based questions. The last 10 minutes was devoted for any questions I might have. The panelists provided a disclaimer that they will interrupt me as need while am answering a specific question.
I was contacted by Shell HR the next day who mentioned I made it through the first round and scheduled my final face to face interviews in about a week's time.
On the day of the interview, I reached their premises 45 minutes ahead of my interview. I was provided a mandatory safety training for about 5 minutes. The HR had me waiting in a cubicle area and my interview started about 45 minutes late. The plan was to have a round of professional assessment followed by a structural assessment. First off, both the panelists were very pleasant and friendly.
The professional interview delved deep into my past experience, assessed specific skill sets and questions were directed based on my explanation. The panelists made elaborate notes based on my responses which made me feel very nervous. This round of interview was originally scheduled for an hour and ran over by about 35 minutes non-stop. After about 95 minutes of interview, I waited up and was informed that I made it through this round and my final interview would start in about 10 minutes.
The structural interview lasted an hour where I was tested on handling job scenarios based on a few broad topics - at this time, I had a good feeling that they were trying to fit me into a better position if am up for it. They were not explicit that it was the intention. One piece of advise - please make extremely sure on where you want to be in your career down the line. Trying to make something up may have negative impact. I tried to be honest and was upfront that I had made some mistakes that could have been dealt differently.
After the interview, I waited for about a couple minutes and the HR collected my salary slips and photograph and mentioned they would get back in about a week. I came out with a good feeling.
After 4 calendar days, the HR contacted me and communicated that they are ready to release an offer for a lead position.
