The interview process started out very well. I had a telephone interview with a pleasant HR representative for about an hour. It went well and I was told that I would be moved to the next step of the interview process to speak with the VP of the Strategy, Leadership and Communications division. During the first interview on the phone I was asked what I currently make per year. When I told the interviewer that I was reluctant to tell her how much I made because I had been screened out of another job from a company that I respected by answering this question she politely backed off and was respectful of my request to wait until I met with the VP to divulge that information.
My assumption at this point was that I would be meeting with the VP for the next step, however, I got an email from the first interviewer stating that the interview process would change slightly and that the HR Manager wanted to have a phone interview with me. I sent a couple of return emails and A time was set.
The experience with the HR manager was a completely different one. It also took an hour but seemed very pointed and I was asked several of the same questions different ways. Then I was given a short speech about how the health field is different from mine and other fields and I should not expect the titles to command the same pay that I would at my current job. I was also told that training Doctors would be a more difficult skill set because they are more intelligent (which seems counterintuitive that intelligent people would have difficultly learning new content).
I was then asked the yearly pay question again after an hour of interviewing. I mentioned that I had explained to the previous interviewer that I had been screened from another job because of that question and I did not feel comfortable answering that question in phone interviews anymore. . I respectfully told the HR manager that I would be happy to disclose that information during my interview with the VP.
At this point I asked if I would still be meeting with the VP and I was told by the HR manager that she had not made her mind up on that yet. I realized at this point that I would not get past this interview without answering the salary question so I requested that I not be screened out of the next interview because of my answer. As soon as I disclosed my current salary, the interview turned and she mentioned that
