I applied online. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Chalhoub Group (Dubai) in Jun 2014
Interview
I was called by a junior recruiter for a phone interview without an appointment. The phone interview turned out to be more of a chat. It was clear to me that she is very fresh and she is not really understanding the position she is recruiting for. She was reading questions from her screen, and she literally made a couple of mistakes while reading :)
I was then asked to attend an in-person interview with another recruiter, a time and date was agreed on. I took a day-off on the interview day as I wanted to be focused and get some relax time before the meeting. While driving to the interview, my phone rang. I parked the car aside and answered, and with no surprise she was the recruiter whom I was supposed to meet for the interview. She said she made a mistake by giving an unsuitable time for the meeting, because she has to attend another interview which was defined a week ago. I was really pissed off, as I lost a day-off and the hard preparation I had before the interview time. I tried to reschedule my interview an hour late after she finishes her first interview, but she said that by that time she will be done for the day and she will have to leave!
Finally we agreed to make it the second day, I made a U-turn and returned home. I was feeling really sad and started to lose the motivation to join the company. I heard many stories about the company's nice environment from colleagues, and I expected to meet a top professional recruiting team, but the truth was different.
The second day, I reached their office on time. I was left in the reception for 15 min or so, till she finally came to greet and take me to the meeting room. The company is busy and full of youth, which looks fresh and inspiring. I saw many boys and girls between 20 to 35 years old.
The interview was not different than the first phone interview, a usual chat, with many personal questions about living with family in Dubai ...etc. There was no challenging questions or tests related to the position as you might expect. At the end, she thanked me, and of course she didn't forget to mention that so many people have applied and if I didn't hear from her within 2 weeks then I should "obviously" consider myself not selected. In fact, I wasn't really motivated or expecting to join the company after all these negative things. I knew that I won't be selected.
Two days later, I received an email thanking me for my time, and telling me that another candidate was chosen. I didn't even respond.
Thank you very much for taking the time to leave a review of your experience at Chalhoub Group. We value your feedback very much and wish you all the best in your career!
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