The initial first interview was a huge waste of time; it was a 10 minute conversation with the MD that absolutely could have been a screening phone call. I was told the purpose of it being face to face is to establish a "culture fit" although I can't imagine how, when the interview lasted 10 minutes and I was barely given a chance to speak.
As for the second interview, this was the most horrifying "interview" experience of my life and felt tantamount to a kidnapping. I applied for the Events Assistant role which looked interesting and similar to marketing roles I've had before, however the job ad was a complete work of fiction. The role on offer, which I didn't find out about until 3 hours into my second interview, in the middle of a city an hour outside of London, is not an Events Assistant, but charity fundraiser. And by that I mean standing in the middle of the street, trying to grab people and get them to sign up and donate money.
At this point I had been taken all the way to a godforsaken town outside London nearly an hour and a half away (only being told about this journey minutes before boarding the train with the rest of the interview group). It was there that I found out that an "event" was not actually a marketing event, when they set up a stand in the middle of the street and started chasing people. It was minutes after this that I left.
The role is unpaid except for commission, so even if you work all week but don't "make a sale" as they call it, you won't get paid. The hours are ridiculous with people saying they often stay until 9pm; considering they start at 9am, this is ludicrous. The days aren't even normal working days, as I was told the role is Monday - Saturday.
Of course, none of this was on the job ad. Because they are well aware that if it was, no one would apply. It took 2 interviews, hours into my second, for them to finally be honest about that. When I asked on the phone before the first stage interview what the salary was and checked that it matched my expectations, I was told it would be £27k pa for this role. Clearly, this was a lie to trap me into committing to the interview process.
I just cannot express how disappointed I am at how much of my time was wasted. I really don't understand what they think they are going to accomplish by doing it this way; they mentioned staff turnover was high and I can only imagine it's because they're interviewing people under false pretences, who no doubt accept the job because they've gone to all that trouble (I believe this is their plan), and then quit when they realise how utterly unsustainable this is.
It's also worth pointing out that even after two interviews including hours into my second interview before I walked out, no one would tell me how much I would earn per "sale" or how my earnings would be calculated.
It's obvious that their hiring policy is lie, pressure, pressure, lie, and then hope by that point people either feel obligated to stay or too desperate to leave.
I'm just grateful that I walked out of the interview and didn't waste the rest of my day as even though I had initially been told it would be from 9am - 1pm, as other reviews on here have stated, this is a lie. They send you back to the office at 1pm and try to get you to have a third interview that day and then stay for another few hours and then bring up a "workshop" that doesn't finish until 9pm. There is no transparency, and in my case blatant lies as I specified I needed to know when the interview would actually end as I had another lined up, but they were not honest about this.
My biggest regret is reading negative Glassdoor reviews that warned of exactly this and dismissing them thinking that must be for another role as the role I applied for is not described as a sales role or a business development role. No matter the job title, any role they advertise for is the same role. They told me in the interview that everyone hired starts in the same role, at the bottom and has to work their way up. They simply get creative with the job titles to lure you in.
