Good communication and interviews with the Talent Manager, Hiring Manager & Director as well as the Recruitment staff, all professional. Without this, I would rate Danone a negative experience overall.
However, the final interview with stakeholders was dire. They came across as belligerent, adversarial, and showed lack of empathy. First 10 minutes, I had already made up my mind about the job and wanted to exit. My mind went blank and couldn't pick up myself after being subjected to such an unfriendly approach. It felt more like an interrogation than an interview and on top of this, the interview was held in an open corridor accessed by company employees and not in a private meeting room. This I found extraordinary considering the hire was for a management position. I had the impression that they did not want me to consider working for their company, treating me as if I was such a poor candidate with terrible work/career choices, experience, and also intimating I could not express myself well enough. This was mystifying considering they had just flown me in from the UK and after two very positive interviews with senior Manager / Director ?????? I think not !!
I initially had a positive impression of Danone as a company and was really looking forward to the prospect of working with them, but the last experience in my final interview was not something I expected from stakeholders at that level, particularly as I was only a "potential" employee.
