This interview was for a Program (Tour) Director for the Tour Operator, Grand Circle Travel or GCT. There were four employee's conducting this multi-day interview process which seemed more like a training camp than an interview. The interview took place in Boston at an airport hotel. The company paid for the roundtrip flight, hotel room (shared) and meals. No wages were earned since this was still part of the interview process. The first three days were spent primarily in one of the hotels' meeting rooms covering company features, core value's, expectations, ice breakers, impromptu presentations, etc. The final two days were spent on a 56 seater bus traveling throughout New England with prospective tour guides (program directors) being called up to the microphone to discuss various subjects. The Managers would call up a PD at random and once at the microphone would tell you what to talk about for five or so minutes. Also on these final two days, each PD would have to give a 10 - 20 minute historical commentary about a place/area. For this exercise, you had the night before to study. On the controversial subject talk, no time to study (see paragraph below). Not all of the places were actually visited but your skills as a presenter were tested. Actually, as I came to find out, everything was a test! Including having a roommate! They were testing everyone's team friendly spirit!
Also, this interview process can be likened to the television show 'Survivor' as there were one or two PD's that were kindly asked to leave at the end of each day (hence why we were staying at the conveniently located airport hotel rather than one of GCT's contracted Boston hotels). The days were long, alot of skills were tested (including the patience levels) and the process was very tiring. It was definitely a labor camp!