I applied online. I interviewed at Pearson (Holborn, England) in Jun 2017
Interview
Applied online, received a call (lasted 1 minute) 2 weeks later to schedule face to face interview.
The whole process indicated red flags for me - I wouldn't want to work for Pearson now even if they offered.
The person who called to schedule my interview spoke very little English, so I could barely understand her and she seemed to struggle understanding me too. She didn't ask any questions and couldn't answer mine either. The call lasted about a minute - she'd just called to let me know my interview date and time.
The confirmation email said 1 hour competency interview followed by 45 minutes assessment - but on arrival I was given 20 minutes to complete the assessment before the interview.
In the confirmation email, I was referred to with a completely different name (not remotely close to my actual name).
My interviewer was 10 minutes late to collect me from reception - and the second interviewer scoffed as soon as I walked in.
There were no pleasantries or time given to settle in - they both left the room as soon as I walked in and gave the instruction to read and complete the assessment within 20 minutes.
The materials I'd been given wasn't printed properly and this meant some information was missing - however I tried to make the best of what I had. The second interviewer noticed this when they returned and started telling the first interviewer off with me in the room.
The second interviewer was very intimidating throughout - he constantly stared at me, sighed during my answers, flipped through my CV while I was answering and read his questions very fast with a very poor attitude - I really wanted to walk out of the interview at this stage.
I didn't expect to be treated like this especially since I have 9+ years experience in recruitment (in-house and agency).
By the end of the interview when they started telling me about the next steps - I'd lost interest and made up my mind that I wasn't interested in working for Pearson anymore.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Tell us how many requisitions your current team gets in a year