Company was very good about responding quickly to my initial application, letting me know when they will be contacting applicants for the next phase. Just as they said, I was contacted within the timeframe provided and asked to provide my availability for a conference call. The call was scheduled for 15 minutes, but was with 6 individuals. I have to admit it was a little intimidating to be on an initial call with so many people and have so little time. The call went well, although a bit dry, which I suppose this is to be expected under the circumstance as you have to keep order on a busy call like that one. I was told there may not be any time for me to ask questions, but I can email them any inquiries if we ran out of time. During the interview I was answering one of their questions, but happened to ask a question too, in which someone yelled out "no questions!" It was a joke, and actually quite funny and refreshing to know they have a sense of humor especially when it felt so regimented. Thankfully there was some time to ask the team my questions and was told another timeframe where they will be following up with this phase of applicants.
Again, remaining on schedule, I was contacted via email detailing a little more about the next phase and given a salary range for their entry level admin. Startled by how low it was ($27-32k - a salaried position with some travel required) I inquired if an applicant is deemed to have more experience, if the beginning salary would also increase. To my surprise they said yes, and asked my education background and years of experience. After they realized that I do not have an AA degree they retracted their offer for me to move forward (even though I have over 7 years administrative experience and 8 years of telecommuting). That was a little disappointing as I'm sure my hands on experience should at the least meet or exceed their minimum requirements. I suppose in this current climate, employers need some cut and dry criteria to weed out the hundreds of applications they receive.