The hiring process seemed fairly efficient, although I should note this is the only position i've interviewed for and been through this process. I put my CV up on Monster and MidlandHR contacted me directly. This was good as it avoided going through agencies. The person who contacted me had evidently read my CV and knew what he was talking about, this was a breath of fresh air after some of the recruitment agency calls i'd had from other companies.
I was asked on the phone if i'd like to interview, I agreed, and it was booked for around 1 week later. This was nice as it meant I didn't have to go through the whole online CV submission process first and it was relatively straight forwards.
The interview itself pretty much was as you would expect. I spoke to 4 people on the day but each of them on their own (not 4 at once). The first couple were mostly interested in finding some general information about me (Can I drive? Why do I want to work for MidlandHR?, Am I a criminal? etc). They also explained a lot about the company and where they are heading, what they do and some of their accomplishments. It was nice that this is actually a two way process here - it wasn't just a bombardment of questions but they actually took the time to try to sell the company, the position and what they do.
Then I was given a java technical test (which makes sense as I was applying for a java position). I don't want to give much away as it would be unfair to Midland HR and the candidates after me, but pretty much they were standard questions you might expect. They were nice enough to say before the interview the stack they use and if you are comfortable working with that, then I would think you can answer most of the questions. There were a few weird ones which I would question how useful they are, but mostly they were fine. I wasn't given a much time to finish the test so missed the last couple of pages - this was a bit stressful and could probably be avoided - I don't think i'm a particularly slow worker, perhaps the time of the test could be longer.
Following the java test was a more technical interview which asked about some of the tools I have worked and a few technical questions extremely relevant to the job. This was probably the most difficult part of the test, at least for me personally, as I sometimes find it difficult to explain things that I know and have experience with (That's perhaps different for other people). However, it seemed to go ok and the interviewer was polite and friendly. The final part was speaking to the Chief Technology Officer (I hope I got that title right). This was just a few more questions about me and wasn't anything overly technical.
Generally, I enjoyed the experience, it was friendly and not too easy or too difficult. I'm the kind of person who gets rather nervous during interviews and they did a good job of settling down - eg asking simple questions first about you, and also getting you a drink etc. If you are going for an interview, make sure to wear smart clothes (I'm a male so can advise that males should be wearing shoes, trousers, a suit, shirt and tie). I felt a bit overdressed before I went, but actually that's just the way it is there - you won't feel like that once you walk in and realise everyone is dressed up.
About 2 days later, the job offer and some feedback came through. I actually had a call from them to apologise for it being slow as they were super busy at the time, but to me, 2 days is actually really good! They are holding the position open for me for a while as I have some commitments with University to finish first, which I think is really good of them (it's about 6 months) and shows they are keen to hire the right people.
Generally everything went well. The only negative thoughts I had about the interview and the whole process were:
- The java test was a written test (This really worried me as I expected a computer based test).
- Feeling a bit overdressed, but that's something I can get used to.
The good parts were:
- The interviewer for the technical test explained any questions I got wrong, this was very nice and meant I knew roughly how it went.
- The process didn't take too long.
- Throughout the whole process they actually paid attention to my circumstances, eg start date and having thoroughly considered my CV before calling.
