Carl Zeiss Interview Questions & Reviews

Interviewed Nov 2010 in Thornwood, NY (took 2 months)

I was contacted by a third party contingency recruiter who found my resume posted on a job board, he was not sure which one. We had a brief discussion about my interest and suitability for the role, after which he presented my information to Carl Zeiss. He was able to confirm an initial telephone interview with the HR person at Carl Zeiss within one or two days, which was a very positive performance. The job description was sent to me at that time. It was not very detailed, containing only five dot points, and left many open questions, which the external recruiter could not answer very well.

The telephone interview with the HR person occurred one week later. I was given a much more useful summary of the role, why they were hiring, objectives, challenges etc. We then had a fairly free-form conversation about my background and fit for this opportunity. I was able to drive the discussion, with mostly just leading questions coming from the interviewer. It was a friendly, frank, helpful exchange. The discussion lasted about 60 minutes, after which I was given very positive feedback. The HR person felt that I would be a very strong candidate for this role, and was excited to pass on my details to the hiring manager. He told me to not hesitate to contact him with any questions, and that they would reach out to me soon to schedule an onsite interview. They wanted to fill the position by year end, only one month away.

I sent a detailed follow-up note same day, summarizing our discussion and my fit for and interest in the role.

I never heard back from Carl Zeiss. I followed up many times with the external recruiter, with no response. Finally, when I told him I was going to contact Carl Zeiss directly, he responded. But he told me he did not have any information, and asked me to check with Carl Zeiss directly and copy him in. He thought they were too busy at year end to get back to me. I then sent several respectfully worded emails to the HR person at Carl Zeiss with no reply.

Six week after initial contact, five weeks after my telephone interview, one week into the New Year and past their self-declared target date, the third party recruiter advised that he had finally heard from Carl Zeiss, and that they had made an offer to another candidate.

While I understand that different people are at different stages in the interview process, and that it is very common to beaten to the punch in this way, I was disappointed by the lack of information from Carl Zeiss. I think that candidates deserve to be treated with more respect than this, particularly after such a positive initial interview with such strong feedback. I am posting this interview so that others applying for jobs at Carl Zeiss may have realistic expectations about how the process could go, at least based upon my one experience.