A very disheartening interview experience.
I recently had an experience of interviewing at Paylocity that left me deeply disappointed. My interview was scheduled for the day after the Fourth of July holiday. While I understand that schedules can be unpredictable, the interviewer arrived a full 11 minutes late without any prior notice or apology. This lateness showed a lack of respect for my time and left a negative first impression.
During the course of the interview, the interviewer displayed a condescending and dismissive attitude towards me, and mentioned in passing on two separate occasions that they had just come off of a call with their boss. Rather than fostering a constructive discussion about my qualifications and the role, and how as a candidate I could help mitigate some of the stress within the organization, the interviewer chose to criticize my career aspirations, suggesting that they were too low. This was also very discouraging.
What was particularly disconcerting though was the interviewer's comment that the role I was interviewing for was "high dollar, high experience." This insinuated that I had never earned more than $120,000 before or lacked the necessary experience for such a position. Such a remark not only misjudged my qualifications but was also offensive. Furthermore, the interviewer asked me, "Who is mentoring you?" This question also struck me as odd and it felt like an attempt to belittle my professional network while implying that I lacked credible guidance in my career. I also did not see this interview question as relevant.
That said, while this won't be everyone's experience it was mine, and I expected a fair and respectful assessment of my qualifications. Instead I encountered lateness, condescension, and belittlement and I hope that sharing my experience will prompt improvements in the process to provide a more respectful and constructive environment for future candidates.