I saw a Senior Graphic Designer position at WSP for their western region. I was 100% qualified for the job, they presented themselves online as a great company to work for, they had a descent mix of employee reviews, and the pay range would make the stress of the work worthwhile. After submitting my material through their online portal, I received an email inviting me to interview for the position.
The morning of the interview I received an email cancelling saying a client meeting had come up and we rescheduled for a few days later. It was a very awkward interview, as neither of the women (neither of whom were the person I had initially been scheduled to interview with) showed any enthusiasm, nor interest in me as a person or designer. The very least a company/firm can do is show an interest in the potential new hire when interviewing them. But they were both very flat, like the interview was yet another thing they had to do in their day. Their lack of interview prowess coupled with clearly not having looked too deeply at my work (indicated by the questions they were asking) set off red flags. More red flags appears as they described the duties of the role and that I would be the sole designer in a division of the region, vs leading a team of designers for a district and mentoring more junior staff, something I love doing and for me was a big draw.
By the end, it became clear to me that they were interviewing me for a different position than I had submitted my application material for. As I tactfully inquired into this, it was immediately clear that she had no idea I had not applied for the position she was interviewing me for, yet instead of apologizing she asked if I'd like to move forward to round two of interviews.
I reached out to my internal contact when, after a few days, I hadn't heard anything about rescheduling my original interview for the Senior Graphic Designer position for the western region, and his response via email was: We had originally closed the position down to revaluate our needs but we wanted to keep the interview with you to discuss our other needs in California.
Needless to say, I politely let him know I was no longer interested in moving forward.
I spent two weeks rigorously preparing to interview for a specific role, not another role within the company. How they behaved reflects a lack of respect for me or my time, internal disorganization, and very poor internal and outward-facing communication.
Watch for the red flags with this place when you interview. How they treat you and your time during the interview process is a reflection of how you'll be treated once you're there. Perhaps other departments and regions have it together and behave more professionally.