Is it normal to have 3 interviews for a short term contract ????
Hi all. I had an hour long first interview with a retail bank just over 2 weeks ago for a contract role, which went well, with three interviewers. A bit of overkill to have three present I thought, but hey-ho. Anyway, I fed back to the agency consultant who said that they would likely make a decision from this and rarely are two interviews required.
Two days later, I received positive feedback and a second was arranged which was scheduled about a week later, and changed at the last minute. The reason being that the hiring manager wanted me to meet some of the team who were based in another city so arranging a time when they could be free from their busy schedules would be difficult, but this was not a job offer, just a chance to meet some of the team (!)
.I was a bit annoyed as the last minute change came the night before the morning of my interview. I was then informed that I could either travel 40 miles for the second interview to meet some of the team the very next morning, or wait a further 3 days to meet them when they were up in the office where I would be based
. I opted for 40 miles away, just because this had been dragging on for over a week and I wanted some closure and thought it would help speed up the decision making process.
Eventually I was contacted again to say, no, we will go with meeting some of the team in my city. Second interview comes, and one of the team whom I was meant to meet did not even turn up due to a 'crisis' with their project. I spent a further hour with the hiring manager going through an indepth role description and asking my thoughts, to be told at the end, 'We appreciate this has been going on a while and we don't want to keep you waiting, so will let you know by the end of today at the latest. We will just have a quick discussion now.' Great, I thought. End of the day came......no phone call from the agency. It must be bad news, I thought. This morning I receive an email from the recruitment agency guy saying the interview was positive and believe it or not they would like to see me for a third time with another more senior member of the programme. He had mentioned to his contact that a third interview was extremely unusual but she said that if I have any queries about the role to contact her on her mobile!
So now, by the time the third interview arrives this will be 3 weeks down the line for a 3 month contract that they needed someone for 'urgently.' Is this normal? I have never been through such a rigorous process for a contract, coupled with the chopping and changing of interview times which, IF, I am successful will mean from start of the process to going into the role it will be around a 6 week timeline
.
Two days later, I received positive feedback and a second was arranged which was scheduled about a week later, and changed at the last minute. The reason being that the hiring manager wanted me to meet some of the team who were based in another city so arranging a time when they could be free from their busy schedules would be difficult, but this was not a job offer, just a chance to meet some of the team (!)
.I was a bit annoyed as the last minute change came the night before the morning of my interview. I was then informed that I could either travel 40 miles for the second interview to meet some of the team the very next morning, or wait a further 3 days to meet them when they were up in the office where I would be based. I opted for 40 miles away, just because this had been dragging on for over a week and I wanted some closure and thought it would help speed up the decision making process.Eventually I was contacted again to say, no, we will go with meeting some of the team in my city. Second interview comes, and one of the team whom I was meant to meet did not even turn up due to a 'crisis' with their project. I spent a further hour with the hiring manager going through an indepth role description and asking my thoughts, to be told at the end, 'We appreciate this has been going on a while and we don't want to keep you waiting, so will let you know by the end of today at the latest. We will just have a quick discussion now.' Great, I thought. End of the day came......no phone call from the agency. It must be bad news, I thought. This morning I receive an email from the recruitment agency guy saying the interview was positive and believe it or not they would like to see me for a third time with another more senior member of the programme. He had mentioned to his contact that a third interview was extremely unusual but she said that if I have any queries about the role to contact her on her mobile!
So now, by the time the third interview arrives this will be 3 weeks down the line for a 3 month contract that they needed someone for 'urgently.' Is this normal? I have never been through such a rigorous process for a contract, coupled with the chopping and changing of interview times which, IF, I am successful will mean from start of the process to going into the role it will be around a 6 week timeline
.
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