The Process: 1) Week 1: Online application followed by an automated “thanks and stay tuned” email. 2) Weeks 2-6: Life goes on at J&J for 5 weeks. No further updates. 3) Week 7a: Candidate receives an email asking for feedback on the process. 4) Week 7b: A contact by an HR recruiter for a screening call. A call is setup for following week (Week 8). 5) Week 7c: Prior to having the screening call with HR recruiter, an invite from the hiring manager for a WebEx interview is sent directly to candidate’s inbox – without HR recruiter’s awareness. Note: Invite will appear without inquiring about candidate’s availability and will not indicate whether it’s an audio only or audio + video. 6) Week 8a: Scripted HR screen call from a list of questions similar to my college internship interviews. The call provides no details about the job whatsoever and no information as to what to expect next. The parting words: The business team will handle it from there and expect the process to take 8 weeks. Note that it has already been 8 weeks at this point. 7) Week 8b: Post-HR screening interview; candidate’s inbox is bombarded with random invites for WebEx interviews with other people on the hiring manager’s team – without HR recruiter’s awareness. As candidate should expect by now, invites will appear without inquiring about candidate’s availability and will not indicate whether it’s an audio only or audio + video. 8) Week 9: Conduct single WebEx interviews on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of the same week (1 interview a day). Remember that each of these invites was sent independently so none of these people knew when your other interviews are scheduled for, and HR doesn’t know anything about them. Also, depending on the interviewers’ moods, they may turn on their camera and expect you to do the same. The questions are all from the same bank, so they repeat. 9) Weeks 10-12: Life goes on at J&J for 3 weeks. No updates from anyone. 10) Week 13: A WebEx invite appears again for a call in 2 weeks (i.e. for week 15) with hiring manager titled “Role Update”. No additional info provided. 11) Week 14: Automated “sorry” email indicating candidate wasn’t selected for the role. Note: “Role Update” meeting for next week is still on. 12) Week 15: “Role Update” meeting is canceled the day prior. With no explanation or further updates. 13) Weeks 15-19. HR recruiter doesn’t respond to email inquiring about any type of feedback from the hiring team to the candidate. Life goes on at J&J for 5 weeks. 14) Week 20: Candidate receives an automated email asking for feedback about the process. The email highlights how special the feedback will be to the J&J team since it’s from someone who has gone through the recruiting process. Candidate laughs out loud! My Comments: The reason why I’m going through the trouble of highlighting this experience in detail is two-fold: First, I’m very disappointed that the hiring process at such a legendary company has come to such a low point. I’ve always regarded it and its people with great respect – something that has almost entirely evaporated following my first-hand experience. I’m hoping someone at J&J sees this and makes changes before it’s too late. Someone in the HR organization isn’t doing a good job (or any job for that matter), and it's clear the cost-cutting through automation and decentralization is planned and executed poorly. Second, I want other job seekers who were (I cannot believe I’m saying this … but) unlucky enough to have been selected for a J&J interview to see this (before, during, or after their interviews) and realize that it’s not them. I interviewed for a Director position and that’s how poorly I was treated! It’s easy to feel disrespected and humiliated after such an experience, and especially given how much experience and/or credentials you may have. However, hold your head high and realize that it’s the broken process and unqualified HR leaders that’s causing this mess – don’t take it personally. Also, young candidates, pay attention to the culture and carefully calibrate your career growth and mobility expectations should you decide to join. This is a 125-year-old company with so many dinosaurs and processes that are yet to adapt to changes around them. Weeks and weeks (and years and years) can go by for anything to happen or for anyone to notice anything – including noticing you.