I applied for this position towards the beginning of August. I received a voicemail in mid-September from an HR rep asking me if I was available for a phone interview on that day and that it was the last day they were interviewing. The call came at noon and I didn't have a chance to check it till I was out of work from my current job. I called back that night and left a message anyways. The following week they returned my call and booked me for a phone interview.
Phone interview last an hour which I felt was unusually long for a phone interview. The interview went well. The questions all had to do with explaining, in detail, what some of my job responsibilities were, how fluent I was in certain computer skills and my length of experience with different processes.
At the end of the interview I was asked to come in for an in-office interview. However, I was informed that the in-office interview would last 2 hours minimum. 1 hour for the interview and 1 hour for a writing prompt. Having heard this I felt a little like I was in school. I'm usually asked to submit writing samples or given something at home. It seemed very inconvenient to have to take off so much time from my current job to complete a writing prompt. Considering my phone interview was with the person who would be my direct supervisor, I was unsure of what the 1 hour in person interview would consist of. I had a feeling that they gave the time quote since there would be a lot of waiting around at the time of interview.
The very next morning an HR rep called to cancel the interview b/c of travel issues for the hiring manager. They told me to keep the first week of October open. I did. No one responded to my check ins during the first week of the month until that Friday. Again, asking me last minute for the in-person interview. They asked if I was available Monday or Tuesday the following week, which I was not. I kindly decline the in-person interview because I already felt so jerked around that I didn't feel the company was one that I'd want to work for.
I find the hiring process was ill-planned and drawn out. This position has been online for several months, yet I was pushed into scheduling last minute interviews because of their poor planning. The HR department, based in NJ, was not professional in the least. The phones were always down and my inability to get through to a member of their team may have appeared as procrastination on my part.
If just speaking with the company about a position is this disorganized, I cannot imagine the horror that is the actual job.