An initial Skype call lasting around 45 minutes. I was then invited to attend their office at Dearne Valley (South Yorkshire) for a face to face interview. This was a 9 hour round trip for me given I live in East Anglia. They have an office in Norwich less than 20 mins from me, however I chose not to make a fuss about the travel distance as I thought it may negatively impact my application. The interview on the day was relaxed and informal, with a 10 min presentation about what I felt the biggest challenges would be in the role and the top priorities. The interview lasted around 75 mins in total. At times it did feel that the interviewers were simply trying to harvest as much useful information from me about solutions they could employ to their problems, rather than really being interested in assessing my suitability as a candidate.
I was informed of not being successful in securing the role (though this information did take quite a while to receive) . I received useful and fair feedback about my application though it is always disappointing to hear you weren't successful due to others who had more experience in the industry than you do (I have none and this was clear from my CV when applying).
However, I am still awaiting a refund for the petrol travel expenses in order to travel almost 300 miles in a day, which is very disappointing. On balance, I wish I hadn't applied / attended the interview given the fact that realistically I had very little chance of being hired for this role and candidates may perhaps think twice before outlaying cost and time on this basis.
