Open conversation. After 45 minutes of discussing my 10+ years of experience leading teams, the hiring manager replied, "My biggest concern is that you do not have any managerial experience. " I stood up, shook his hand, and left after that.

I responded to an online posting and was contacted by corporate recruiter. First interview was with recruiter and region VP where they went through a pretty standard list of questions. Next was a whirlwind trip to Bakersfield, CA to interview with corp execs, followed by a visit to local branch, and 3 more phone interviews. In total I interviewed with 9 people over the span of a month. Oh yeah, there were online intelligence and personality tests too. It seemed like it would NEVER end, then finally an offer. After that it took nearly a month for drug, background and physical fitness testing. The sad part is the company spends a huge amount of time screening candidates but practically zero effort onboarding and training. Small wonder turnover is so high among managers.