I had a phone interview and was asked very basic questions based on my resume. The interview was brief and I was told that I would be contacted by the hiring manager if she wanted to set up an in-person interview. I quickly received a follow up email to set up a time for an in-person interview. That has not happened yet but when it does I will update.

I applied for the first time in June, to a position for which I was well-qualified. I waited and waited and waited, without even an acknowledgement that my application had been reviewed. Since I had been advised that the hiring process could be very lengthy and drawn out, the silence was not necessarily an indication of rejection. In July, another position opened up that I was even better suited for than the first, so I applied again. I was contacted for a pre-screening phone interview with the recruiter based on my qualifications. The phone interview went very well, and she said she "definitely" would send on my info to the hiring manager for an in-person interview. I was contacted a few days later to schedule the interview, which would involve me (the one who was unemployed) driving 230 miles to meet the hiring manager, which I did. I studied really hard before the interview, I dressed professionally, and I seemed to hit it off with the hiring manager who was conducting the interview. Not only did she not seem put off by anything I said, but she seemed genuinely interested and excited about my experience. She indicated at the end of the interview that they would be holding second interviews for those selected in the upcoming weeks. It was said with the air that I should expect to be among those included in the second interview. I left the interview only questioning how the second interview would go, because there was no doubt at all that I would be selected. I was frankly surprised there would even be a second interview required, because I was not only SO well-qualified, but the interview went so well. And before you think I just sound cocky, I usually interview terribly. Interviews are my worst subject. I know when I interview poorly, and I just didn't. The interview was on a Friday, and over the weekend I sent a very nice follow-up email to the woman I had the interview with. On Monday morning, first thing, I received a form rejection letter. The kind you would receive if you had never even interviewed, and it stated that they decided to pursue other applicants who were more qualified. I went onto their website to check my application (which still was noted as being in the "interview process"), and noticed that the original position I had applied for had just been filled, so I assumed the form letter was in response to my original application. I waited one day, and then emailed back the recruiter who had sent me the rejection, just to clarify that it was the original position I was receiving the email over, and that I was still being considered for the position I had interviewed for the previous Friday. She emailed me back and told me that the hiring manager had decided to "move forward with another applicant." It made no sense. Not only were they aware of my qualifications before they contacted me the first time, and were certainly aware of my qualifications after the phone interview, but my experience was tailor-made for the position I had applied for, so to say I wasn't qualified was the definition of absurd. If they hadn't thought I was qualified in the first place, why did they ask me to drive 230 miles on my own dime to meet with them in person? I then did something that I have never done in my life, and I sent a post-rejection follow up email to the hiring manager, asking her to reconsider. It may have been an unconventional thing to do, but it was a very professional letter. The hiring manager never responded to either one of my post-interview letters. As of today, 2 months have passed since my interview, and they still have not filled the position. So much for them going with another applicant who was more qualified than I was. I have no idea whatsoever what happened to get me blacklisted. I have racked my brain, and come up with nothing. The only things that I could think of were so small, and not worth losing the position over. It is truly baffling to me. I was definitely disappointed not to get the job, but could accept that it was God's will for me not to have it, and it is certainly Nielsen's prerogative to hire and not hire whoever they choose. I was more stunned because it felt like the floor had just dropped out from beneath me. And though I know most companies don't contact you to give you honest feedback about what went wrong, I have never had an interview go so well, and then get turned down flat. Something is amiss, and the not knowing is the part I struggled with the most. For their inconsideration, and lack of communication, not to mention all of their many hoops, I would not recommend Nielsen.