Applicants and interviewees beware! TL;DR: They use unscrupulous hiring practices. Do with this information what you will. I just want everyone to be informed. Apparently they’ve recently changed the process. My group of 6 interviewees was told to arrive 5-10 minutes early and go to reception. Then the receptionist walked us up to the conference room. The interview started with a 3 question/ 30-minute written portion. Then a panel of 3 Program Managers walked in and interviewed our group round robin-style. As soon as they walked in, they told us: 1. We "weren't in competition with each other". 2. They "have enough openings to hire everyone in the room and more as they need to hire for over 100 Service Coordinator positions. And they just received a bunch of money to do so". After they asked their 6 (but usually 7) questions, they told us the hiring process would go as follows: 3. They “wouldn't contact these references unless they were going to hire us”. 4. And proceeded to ask us to "inform our references that if they called, they would be doing so the next day so their responses could expedite the 1-2 week hiring process". (They also said those who were hired would receive a phone call and those who are not would receive a letter in the mail.) My references were emailed the next day (rather than called). I also wasn't hired. Normally, this wouldn’t have been a big deal. But they gave us a certain expectation when they explained the hiring process. Sadly, their claims during the interview and after didn’t match up. The rejection letter said they went with another INDIVIDUAL. It also said that I wasn't qualified. On their website, they say they require: BA/BS or Masters Degree in Social Work, Psychology or related field required. One year related work experience, preferably in the field of developmental disabilities required for BA/BS Degrees. I have a master's degree AND several years of experience in the field, so make it make sense. SDRC would’ve been lucky to have everyone in our group as employees. Their actions sent the message that it doesn’t matter whether you’re qualified or not. I could live with the disappointment of not being hired. But the embarrassment of dragging my references into this and then having to explain that I didn’t get the job was an experience I didn’t need. Of course, companies can and will hire who they want. I also understand that verbal promises, claims, explanations, etc. are not legally binding like written ones are. But it is EXTREMELY unprofessional to mislead applicants and bother their references if they know they are not trying to hire that person. It rings as sociopathic to offer false expectations and create messes for interviewees to clean up. None of us deserved that treatment. Really, no one does. Supposedly, this is a human service agency. They need to start acting like it and learn how to treat people.