Screening call with internal recruiter. Interview followed quite quickly thereafter.
Had an interview with a two-person panel, but the dynamic was discouraging. The process felt disengaged and the interview style was off-putting. Rather than a standard exchange, my responses were frequently corrected or embellished with the interviewers' own thoughts and opinions—an experience I’ve never had in an interview to date. It felt as though the priority was less about my candidacy and more about the interviewers asserting their own "perfect" responses. I found this to be a red flag; it felt like I was being expected to listen to a monologue rather than engage in a professional dialogue.
The second red flag, stated during the interview, is that if you or your child are sick, even just for one day, you have to take unpaid time off or use annual leave, as they do not offer paid sick leave. On top of that, it's a mandatory 40-hour week in the office. These things, when paired together, are incredibly limiting for a parent, and this did not come across as a child-friendly or parent-friendly employer.
Final red flag is the fact they ghosted me after the interview. Considering the stage I reached, the candidate list should be short enough to contact people and let them down gently with feedback.
I happened to get some insight about the company before my interview; had I known sooner, I would not have interviewed. The work culture is known to be extremely toxic, even in the UK. Avoid, unless you're young and have ambitions that you don't mind suffering for.