Unprofessional and Disorganized Interview Process with Vague Expectations.
The company’s approach was unprofessional and misleading. The job description stated ‘CPA required,’ yet the interviewer’s first question was, ‘You’re not a CPA, are you?’ Even though my resume clearly shows “CPA” right after my full name. This showed a clear lack of preparation and internal alignment. It’s frustrating to invest time and effort into a long onsite interview, only to experience such inconsistency. Additionally, there was no clear explanation of the long-term expectations of the role. Short term expectation is to clean a messy books. The hiring manager did not appear to understand US accounting operations or demonstrate practical approaches for influencing people and maintaining positive conversations. Instead, she repeatedly stated, ‘This job is not for everyone,’ and implied that my willingness to do it was just because I wanted the job. This made me question if they expected candidates to respond negatively or show discomfort. Overall, I left feeling disappointed by the lack of clarity and professionalism.
Advice to Management: Improve your hiring process by ensuring clear communication between HR and interviewers and reviewing candidate qualifications before scheduling interviews. Provide detailed and realistic role expectations, and equip hiring managers with the skills to foster constructive, encouraging conversations.