The interview was a 'speed dating' type of set-up. This is different to many interviews but had some benefits, such as not having to sit with the same person if you felt you didn't do well. The questions asked were extremely vague and sometimes so long you couldn't remember every aspect. A massive amount of jargon was used, and when I asked for clarity on a comment about 'agile' working (hot-desking etc or agile project management) it appeared the term had been used without the person 100% understanding the meaning. The heavy use of jargon continued into the group exercise and became more like 'buzz-words' than anything with actual meaning. My main issue is that it was incredibly clear that the business wished to recruit one of the two internal candidates and were not interested in the four external candidates. One of YBS' pros is the retention of staff and recruiting internally so this shouldn't be a surprise. Their intention was clear from the confirmation there would only be one assessment centre, conversations with the internal candidate and their experience with interviews at YBS, and from the feedback I received from the interview, which was that other candidates had answered the questions in a STAR format and then gone onto what they would do differently and what they could bring to a similar scenario if they were successful. Combined with my conversations with an internal candidate, this heavily suggested to me that the person had been coached or at least was very aware of what the business were looking for. The questions I was asked were very very vague and, without confirmation of otherwise in the interview invitation, I prepared my answers solely using the STAR format as I have done for every other interview. Overall I understand the reasons for advertising and interviewing externally, but I had to take a full day off work for the three hour long assessment centre and to have my time wasted like that has left a very sour taste in my mouth. I left the interview knowing nothing more about the role or the company, and did not feel like the company knew any more about me. I was told I didn't fail the interview processes but other candidates scored higher, which I could fully accept if it was not so clear that the intention was always to hire an internal candidate.
