I had previously applied for this job listing, but put a salary range in closer to what I was currently earning. I did not receive a response. About 2-3 months later, I came across the posting again and applied for it again, this time entering a lower salary. I got the interview this time. You can never be sure, of course, with how candidates are selected, but I was suspicious that they were looking to fill at a relatively low cost.
The HR person emailed me and set up a screening interview via phone with her. Typical stuff, though there was one of those awkward "company culture" type of questions - something to the effect of "What are your 3 most important things?". I asked for clarification, but she (half-heartedly) said they leave it open-ended on purpose. I think she thought it was pretty pointless, too.
I was subsequently invited to interview with the development team. I was scheduled to speak with 4 people - group manager, project manager, technical manager, and team member. As it turned out, only the PM was in the office. The other 3 I spoke to via phone. This particular CGI team had many remote members, meaning I would be able to work from home (a good thing).
I thought the interview went pretty well. The people seemed to like working for CGI. A recurrent theme they kept bringing up was the flexibility of the company - work location, hours, work-life balance, etc. The benefits were typical for a large company - I don't recall anything that stood out either way.
As far as the job itself, it was clear that I was over-qualified for the position. I'm pretty certain this was their thinking, too. We never discussed salary, but I doubted that it would be in the range I was seeking.
The HR person sent me an email the next week saying that they had actually decided to close the position for the time being. My guess is that it was kind of a "luxury" position - they could have used another set of hands on the project, but only if they could get someone competent at a bargain price.
I responded by thanking the HR person for the time and if there was any constructive feedback from those that interviewed me. I never received a response, which I didn't think was terribly professional. I certainly wasn't expecting her to send me back a lengthy and thorough analysis, but even a minimal acknowledgement (a sentence or two) would have been more appropriate.
