Well I interviewed at a well known Global firm. Although am an Indian and live in Bangalore, let me tell you what I faced.
The first day the HR lady gave me the address, actually there are two buildings separated by 15 minutes of walk, across the roads. She asked me to be there by 9:45 AM and so I did. The road was so dusty due to some construction work going, I don't if I had eaten some grams of dust while I was driving my bike. Nevertheless battling traffic for two hours I managed to reach their office. The moment I reached there I had no contact but her's and the security refused to let me in. She called me, after I trying to call her for 30 mins waiting in the sun and dust and now she tells me know that the office is a goddamn 15 mins walk across the road. I didn't want to fight the traffic again so I walked. But two hours of bike ride, the dust and the 15 mins of walk in summer had sapped the energy out of me.
I reached there and then a guy escorted me in. He was an engineer and he was good enough to ask me if I needed water and needed to use the restroom. I took the water. Then the first interview lasted for two hours straight, where he bought me in a laptop and asked me to code. And I wrote all the programs. Then for the next hour, there was no communication I didn't know if I had to stay or leave. I tried calling the HR lady and she didn't pick up the call. Then another engineer came in, so the interview went on for the whole day. And they were all fine people and the interviews went great. Looks like this was some special department with a different culture.
All engineers were pretty good and they even took me to the cafeteria and even paid for my lunch and snacks. After that there was dead air, no communication from them ever again. I tried emailing, calling her but no avail. Suddenly after two weeks she wrote me an email. Asking me to 'be there' at the office. Again no proper address. This time I went to the office where I was interviewed previously, only to be told that this time(again after trying to reach her for 30 minutes) it was other office. Again I walked to the other office for 15 minutes in the scorching sun taking in all the dust.
This time its probably the worst kind of people I ever faced. It rounds and rounds of interviews with people who had completely decided to humiliate me and send me out no matter what. This time no idea where I had to take lunch, no idea about restrooms, no water. The whole day was miserable. I had to run to the nearest hotel to relieve myself and eat something at the end of the day. Again after this no communication and she refused to pick up the call for three days.
Then again they asked me to come in for a third day. This time I was clever enough to take a bus, carry my own water and lunch. And careful enough to avoid myself to having need a restroom. This time it was more pathetic, none of the interviewers looked serious. One guy was continuously chatting with some one, another guy was answering emails on his Blackberry, another guy continuously reading something on his mobile and laughing. None of them were serious to listen to answers to their own questions they asked.
They asked me to come in for the fourth time 'I just plainly turned it down'. And didn't want to work with such people
But my other experiences have been good. I think some times its just purely Murphy's law and some people with horrible work culture.
The first day the HR lady gave me the address, actually there are two buildings separated by 15 minutes of walk, across the roads. She asked me to be there by 9:45 AM and so I did. The road was so dusty due to some construction work going, I don't if I had eaten some grams of dust while I was driving my bike. Nevertheless battling traffic for two hours I managed to reach their office. The moment I reached there I had no contact but her's and the security refused to let me in. She called me, after I trying to call her for 30 mins waiting in the sun and dust and now she tells me know that the office is a goddamn 15 mins walk across the road. I didn't want to fight the traffic again so I walked. But two hours of bike ride, the dust and the 15 mins of walk in summer had sapped the energy out of me.
I reached there and then a guy escorted me in. He was an engineer and he was good enough to ask me if I needed water and needed to use the restroom. I took the water. Then the first interview lasted for two hours straight, where he bought me in a laptop and asked me to code. And I wrote all the programs. Then for the next hour, there was no communication I didn't know if I had to stay or leave. I tried calling the HR lady and she didn't pick up the call. Then another engineer came in, so the interview went on for the whole day. And they were all fine people and the interviews went great. Looks like this was some special department with a different culture.
All engineers were pretty good and they even took me to the cafeteria and even paid for my lunch and snacks. After that there was dead air, no communication from them ever again. I tried emailing, calling her but no avail. Suddenly after two weeks she wrote me an email. Asking me to 'be there' at the office. Again no proper address. This time I went to the office where I was interviewed previously, only to be told that this time(again after trying to reach her for 30 minutes) it was other office. Again I walked to the other office for 15 minutes in the scorching sun taking in all the dust.
This time its probably the worst kind of people I ever faced. It rounds and rounds of interviews with people who had completely decided to humiliate me and send me out no matter what. This time no idea where I had to take lunch, no idea about restrooms, no water. The whole day was miserable. I had to run to the nearest hotel to relieve myself and eat something at the end of the day. Again after this no communication and she refused to pick up the call for three days.
Then again they asked me to come in for a third day. This time I was clever enough to take a bus, carry my own water and lunch. And careful enough to avoid myself to having need a restroom. This time it was more pathetic, none of the interviewers looked serious. One guy was continuously chatting with some one, another guy was answering emails on his Blackberry, another guy continuously reading something on his mobile and laughing. None of them were serious to listen to answers to their own questions they asked.
They asked me to come in for the fourth time 'I just plainly turned it down'. And didn't want to work with such people
But my other experiences have been good. I think some times its just purely Murphy's law and some people with horrible work culture.