I applied online. The process took 1 week. I interviewed at Veran in Sep 2025
Interview
Initial telephone call screen (described by the recruiter as a first-round interview) was for a Principal-level role. This was a CV discussion with some light competency questions. I was advised that Veran wanted to decide internally whether to align me to Change, HR, or Project Delivery, given that my background spans all three.
Two days later, I received an invitation for a Manager-level Project Delivery interview. This was a different role, at a lower level, and not the one I applied for. When I checked LinkedIn and Veran's website, the Principal role I had applied for had been removed. This change was not communicated, and when I queried it, I was told they felt this was a “better fit.” Given that I am currently a Senior Manager and have also spent several years at Manager-level in Big 4 consulting, this decision was confusing and inconsistent.
On that basis, I withdrew from the process. The handling felt like a bait and switch, and in my view it raises concerns about transparency and candidate experience.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
General CV overview, walked through high-level examples of change and project/programme delivery.
Invited to 2nd round interview but declined to attend based on lack of transparency and poor candidate experience.
I applied online. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Veran (London, England) in Apr 2025
Interview
Initial screening call with the Head of HR (30 minutes)
2nd stage competency video interview with wider HR team
Final stage interview with leadership team with a presentation in person
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What metrics do you consider important in talent acquisition from a wider business perspective and why?
I applied through a recruiter. The process took 5 weeks. I interviewed at Veran (London, England) in Feb 2025
Interview
I applied for a Finance role ( not HR) and had 4 interviews in total. At the 3rd interview, I did a presentation based on a previous client I had worked for and things ended on a good note. I was told I'd have an informal interview with 2 of the Directors - one from Finance and the other from HR (HR as in the consulting arm). To my dismay, I was interviewed by the HR Director who started off with "ERP Projects are dead , we've done them all" and asked again , " why do you want to work here?". Not what I was expecting for a 4th interview or considering I was applying for a Finance ERP role. The fact that no one from Finance turned up should have been another red flag. He then asked who had interviewed me before ( no internal communication) and when it was time for me to ask questions, I had no more Finance questions to ask ( exhausted my questions at the previous 3) so asked a question about HR Consultancy. I left feeling uneasy and was asked by the recruitment agency to send a copy of my presentation, which I did. I was then told I'd asked too many HR questions and therefore would not be offered the role!! Why send an HR Director to interview a Finance candidate?? The lack of internal communication and the reason for not offering me the role shows I dodged a bullet! Any other reason like " not the right fit" or " we don't have any projects at the moment " would have been more palatable. Very unprofessional organisation.