1st interview was with a recruiter and was standard. Recruiter explained the role and asked a few questions about my experience and what I'm looking for in my next position. 2nd interview was with a person from HR and was again, pretty standard. However, the 3rd interview was a four hour Zoom interview that consisted of three different interviews with six people total.
The first meeting of the marathon Zoom interview included 2 people from the HR department, one with very little experience and the other with decades of experience. The experienced HR person turned off her computer camera and the two interviewers started asking behavioral based questions in rapid fire succession. They asked approximately 20 behavioral based questions during the one-hour interview with these two. The questions were vague and I had to repeatedly ask each to repeat their questions. I'm a believer of behavioral based questions, but neither of these two interviewers understand that when you interview people using behavioral based questions, it's necessary to create an environment in which the interviewee can recall specific events. Creating a stressful environment and not allowing the interviewee the time to think of specific events is a waste of time. The only thing the interviewers will learn is if the individual can recall events - that they probably hadn't thought of in years - in a highly stressful environment.
The 2nd meeting during the marathon Zoom meeting was a plant operations person that has been with the company for a very long time and one of the top HR executives. At least in this meeting the behavioral questions weren't rapid fire. However, both individuals showed completely no personality and made no effort to try to get to know me as a human being. I'm all about professionalism, but how can you possibly gauge someone's fit with a team if you don't allow for some personality to show?
The 3rd meeting was a standard interview with two more people that are part of the HR team. It was pretty standard.
Overall, I left the process knowing I wouldn't be joining the First Solar HR team whether I received an offer or not. First Solar is positioned to become a behemoth in the renewables industry. However, they should seriously consider reviewing their HR function because based on my experience interviewing, I don't believe it's prepared to help First Solar's rapid expansion.
To add - It has been more than four weeks and I still have not received any type of communication regarding First Solar's decision. It is extremely unprofessional and shows how poorly the HR function is managed.