Lengthy phone interview (one and a half hours), in-person panel interview, interview with owner.
A one and a half hour phone interview is excessive and exhausts even the most robust ones among us -- unless you happen to adopt the approach that it is a challenge to be overcome and that you *will* rise to and meet that challenge!
1. Phone interview: I would suggest that the company engage the services of a professional recruiter who has an actual recruiting background and knows how to conduct a phone screen, both in the type of questions asked, and most importantly, as regards the time factor. A well-conducted phone interview should not last beyond 45 minutes at max, with 30 being the optimum for most positions.
2. In-person interview
-- The location: The interview took place at a converted house, which is the company's main office. It is very small and cramped. The meeting area (a table with chairs) was just several feet from the entry door, which looked as if it possibly at one time was the house's living room. Since there was no meeting room with a closed door for privacy, the people sitting nearby could hear the questions that I was being asked and my responses to them. It was very uncomfortable. When I realized just how difficult the space crunch situation was at the company, and that the person hired would have to share a small office (which could possibly have been a bedroom in the past) with 2 other people simultaneously, given the nature of the position for which I was interviewing, I began to seriously consider not accepting it if it were to be offered; however, I tried to keep an open mind, thinking that perhaps we could come up with some reasonable options/alternatives, being that there are usually multiple creative ways to solve challenges.
-- The questions: These were pretty much the standard (tell us about yourself, why are you interested in our company, why are you looking for a position, etc.). Quite a bit of it was focused on why I was interested in that particular role as opposed to other roles. It was off-putting. Other questions I found to be intrusive, as they touched on personal life decisions. It felt more like an interrogation rather than a mutual interview.
What I found the most off-putting and that raised a red flag as to the potential work environment, was that while there were 3 people at the in-person interview, 2 women and 1 man, the man was clearly in charge of the interview. On several occasions, he said words to the effect of "I guess I'll speak for the others." I was uncomfortable with this and by the second time that it happened, combined with the lack of a private work space, I decided that I would definitely not accept an offer, were it to be made. For the sake of professionalism and politeness, however, I continued to actively participate in the interview and showed interest in what was being said and what I was being shown.
My take-away, from both the phone interview and the in-person interview, is that this could be a difficult company and environment for me to work in. In addition, the salary is significantly below par for the requirements of the job and what they expect from the person hired (including long hours, being on call at night and on weekends and the likelihood of having to work on some of those days). The benefits are also below Silicon Valley competitive standards.
