I am a seasoned professional with multiple graduate degrees and 15+ years of experience in a hot field. I had worked as a Director for a large company for 10 years prior to this interview.
I was lucky, or thought so, to be in contact with a Managing Director at Chase that had just got a new job withing the company and had two similar Executive Director (ED) positions open. I applied for one, sent my resume to him directly, and was very excited to see him forward it to HR asking to put me into the interview process for not one, but two positions. I had multiple phone interviews scheduled with internal clients of the group shortly.
In the middle of those interviews, I got an email from HR stating that they wanted to schedule me for a phone interview with the hiring manager. Except, it said, "as you are interviewing for the position of Manager of Blah-Blah" . So, I emailed HR and asked to clarify what position I was interviewing for. I got an evasive email from some intern that "the hiring manager thought you would be a better fit for this new manager position. Wait a minute... Let's talk to someone. Got on the phone with another HR guy who was quite shifty. Basically, he asked me how much money I needed , and that the position paid well. I said OK, I would think about it over the weekend, send me the job description. The intern sent me the schedule for phone interview with the new hiring manager. As I read the description, it turned out to be a junior grunt position from hell, and I had declined this type role in my prior jobs. No go. At this point, my goal is to get out of this sticky situation with grace.
Morning after the long weekend I get a call from the HR lady, she is asking to confirm that I am available for the hiring manager interview, which was tentatively scheduled for later that week. I say that I reviewed the job description, and unfortunately I decided to withdraw from consideration for this position. She is taking it well. I ask her if I am still in consideration for any other positions, and she does not know. I ask her to call me back if I am. I hang up.
6 minutes later, my phone rings again. It's the would be hiring manager, calling me completely unannounced. Demanding an explanation why I withdrew. I told him I would not have fun in this position, and let me put it this way, he did not take it well.
Ooph, you think, this was over? About a week later, I get a call from an apologetic woman who says she is sorry to be late for our interview. Turns out Chase HR forgot to cancel the last phone interview.
I tried to make sense of what happened and not blame Chase until I realized that I have talked to other hiring managers there, and every time they "thought of another position that would be a good fit for you" which was inevitably junior, and paid lower than what I was making at the time. They just were not as deceitful and sneaky about it.
TL/DR Total bait & switch. Senior position substituted for a junior individual contributor quietly without informing the candidate. Hiring manager called unannounced to express his displeasure when I withdrew. HR completely dropped the ball.
