Call with internal recruiter - Ran through company, cv and project experience. 1st stage with Principal Engineer/Lead Engineer - similar to above but more focussed on tech 2nd stage with Head of Platform - Very conversational, felt he was getting to know 'me' rather than just doing a checklist which was went down well with how I enjoy interview processes. We talked backgrounds, projects worked on, asked a lot of question both ways about culture etc. I did get an offer at the level I highlighted at the beginning but declined for a different company purely on the benefits package. They were definitely up there with one of the better experiences I had.

My CV and cover letter were sent to CTS from TechReturners after I was invited to participate in an online meeting to talk about CTS’s goals, values and what they valued in employees. The same person who conducted the online meeting was also responsible for my first telephone interview, which gave me a good level of comfort, what with already establishing a good rapport during the online meeting. I was told at the end of the phone interview that I had met their initial requirements and I was invited to a more formal interview with a technical member of staff, someone who would be taking a leading role on the team I was anticipated to join, and with a ‘people person’ member of staff. This interview was a competency interview that allowed the technical member of staff to ask questions on a ‘script’, but then that member of staff made it clear that additional ‘off-script’ questions may be asked to dive in and give CTS a better understanding of my mastery in some subjects. The questions where challenging, however I feel confident I was able to more than adequately answer almost all of them. After the technical questions were finished, the ‘people person’ member of staff asked a range of questions, mostly pertaining to team dynamics and how I dealt with members of my team or with clients and stakeholders under a number of different circumstances. The technical member of staff was invited at any time to ask further questions. Due to coronavirus, this competency interview was conducted via Google Meet. Prior to the competency interview, I was provided with some technical documentation to review to prepare. I found this level of support throughout the interview process with CTS as immensely helpful, open, and accessible, especially since I would not rate myself as a person who is particularly good at interviewing. The wait for knowing whether my application was successful was only over the weekend. Members of my cohort from TechReturners who were not successful with their applications told me that they received good feedback on how future applications would be more successful. I found all members of CTS staff involved in recruitment and interviewing friendly, knowledgeable, approachable, and helpful.