Editor Interview Questions

Academic Editor at Cactus Communications was asked...

3 Dec 2015

They kept asking me if I'm planning for a baby.

I had to say no because I didn't want to falter in anyway and lose this great opportunity. Had I known they were so unprofessional, I wouldn't have answered this question. Secondly, if they can ask me such sensitive questions, why didn't they clear their doubt if I will work there for long term or get bored eventually.

I mirror the same experience. I interviewed for a CRM position. I must say that Cactus is extremely unprofessional in asking personal questions. In the first place such questions have no place in an interview. they have silly questions inquiring about my family plans and whether i plan to have a kid anytime soon. They sounded overly concerned about my place of stay in Mumbai if I got the job. Their concern was regarding my travel time. I want to know if ALL cactus employees live in Andheri itself? Is that really possible? I was asked about this at every stage of interview. They also seemed to be concerned with the fact that what would I do if my husband gets transfered to a new city (an extremely bleak possibility). IS it that one who joins Cactus, never leaves the orgn? I don't think so.They are truly unprofessional in conducting interviews.

It is definitely disappointing to have cleared the technical rounds and not get selected just because the HR seems to have some apprehensions. As if the HR manager won't leave the job, if she finds a better opportunity. With this experience, I've learnt that it's not our technical skills that matter to them, but our personal goals in life. Why on earth would a candidate leave all the other companies and apply here if he/she is not interested to join or work for a long term? Well, thank you anonymous for your comment.

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Dear candidate, Thank you for your candid feedback. We understand your concerns and appreciate the patience you’d shown throughout the selection process. We’d like to clarify that probing on certain personal aspects during the selection process is done at most organizations in the best interests of the candidate and the organization. It’s just that this might have been a bit more apparent at CACTUS – we prefer not to beat around the bush and come to the point directly. You’re right in guessing that it’s not possible for all our current employees to reside in Andheri. We probe on our candidate’s residence location because we provide pick-up facilities for certain locations, and it helps to know if we can make the commute easier despite the candidate living far off. For your information, our company provides pick up facilities for few locations. We’ve noticed that if a candidate resides at a location that is not only far off but also involves a troublesome daily commute, it can affect employee morale and performance. Lastly, we probed on your husband’s transfer because we need to be doubly sure on the stability of a candidate for certain critical roles.

I am not sure if the questions posed were for the benefit of the organization but it truly helped me understand the unprofessionalism in there. what do you mean by stability? do you expect people to retire from Cactus once they join? what is the longest time you expect an employee to stick to the same company? i dont think it is is either in benefit of the company or that of the employee to stick on forever. I believe that asking such questions was not done on purpose, but because of a lack of training and awareness Nevertheless, thanks for letting us all know about the organisation right on day one.

Thank you for your reply, Global Talent Acquisition, Cactus Communications. Nevertheless, it is still disappointing to have lost a great opportunity to work with Cactus Communications, due to some silly, baseless "apprehensions". I would have taken it positively had I not cleared the technical tests, and worked towards it. But the reason given to me is not justifiable at all.