Jack Morton Finance Interview

Interviewed May 2010 in New York, NY (took 1 week)

I proactively approached the Company around a month ago. This seemed to impress them so I initially had a phone-screening interview with an HR VP/ Director and then two 1-one-1 interviews: one with a really junior HR representative and the other one with the functional manager (potential boss). The phone-screening interview with the HR VP went really good and this person was really professional, approachable and experienced interviewer. This person was clear on the next steps of the process and really open in terms of communication. The second round of interviews, in my opinion, went OK. I felt really good with the functional manager but there were no connections at all with the junior HR person. In fact this HR person didn't seem to have experience interviewing (when I saw this person's Linked -In profile and previous experience I understood why). This person didn't handle common corporate language (you could tell by the kind of questions that were asked and seemed kind of "in a hurry" during the interview. I felt that this person was not paying any attention at all to what I was saying). I really didn't understood why after being interviewed by high-caliber professionals, I ended up interviewing with a junior and unprepared employee. Moreover, the idea of this person having some kind of decision power into the recruiting process was really scary.
The interview with the functional manager was different and more relaxed. It was really focused on experiences sand skills. After these interviews I was told to wait a week for further news on next steps. I'm still waiting after almost a month. I figured after the 2nd week (and after two e-mails with no response at all) that I didn't make it to the 3rd round. I understand that not all candidates make it and I'm mature enough to take rejection, what I don't think is right or professional is leaving candidates "hanging" or "waiting" for responses. It is easier (not to mention polite and professional) to send a note saying that someone didn't make it rather than not saying anything at all. This was a clear message on how this Company handles its employees on a day-to-day basis, and I'm glad it happened at that point rather than later (after being hired for instance). I do believe this company is great and has interesting opportunities, but handling a correct recruiting process is critical for the Company's image. This needs to change for Jack Morton. My advice to other candidates is this: please remember that the interview process is a two-way street: they are not only evaluating you...you are also evaluating them and each part of the process is critical to understand if you would feel comfortable working there or not. Be aware of any kind of "alarms" and do as much research as possible of the people you are going to interact with. This will give you not only a competitive advantage over other candidates but it will also give you an idea of what to expect and the caliber of professionals that work there. Good luck!.