I got through two rounds of interviews with DAI. While I was ultimately not selected I am happy with the outcome because my final impression of the company is that they are disorganized and exhibit poor business practices. Had I received a job offer by the end, I likely would have turned it down as a result.
My first interview with DAI actually went very well and I left feeling excited about the opportunity and the company. Unfortunately from then on everything went downhill. It began about a week later with the email I received congratulating me for making it to the second round interview. The email began: “It was a please speaking with you regarding the [Position/Title] opportunity here with DAI.” Clearly this was a form letter and the Senior Corporate Recruitment Manager did not bother to fill in the actual position name; this did not inspire my confidence. The email also requested I bring a photo ID when I arrived at the second interview, even though I had not needed one the first time. This seemed a little confusing and as it turned out I did not actually need an ID.
When I arrived for the second interview about a week after receiving the email I found the atmosphere to be very chaotic. The person I was supposed to meet with initially was too busy and so I was brought into an impromptu meeting with someone I had spoken to in my first interview. They seemed unprepared and somewhat disengaged. I was then shuffled into another hasty meeting with someone I had also previously met who also seemed unprepared and confused. Finally I met with the person I had planned to meet initially. Admittedly by this time my enthusiasm has dropped somewhat, however we had what I thought was a good discussion and after repeated apologies about how hectic things were from the recruitment manager I was told I would hear more about my status soon.
About a week after my second interview I received another email informing me I was one of the top candidates. The email included several release forms for a background check and was followed by a link where I had to fill in contact information for five professional references that could provide me a recommendation. I was also asked to send a copy of my most recent pay stub to verify my current salary. My references all received emails and graciously took the time to answer all the questions it asked. I also took the time to fill out the release forms. About two weeks later I received a call informing me they had decided to go with another candidate.
For both my in-person interviews DAI seemed to struggle finding times, indicating their managers are bad at time management. I had to take off two days from my current job to attend these interviews and spent many hours more filling out forms as part of the process, ultimately I feel as though much of this time was wasted due to their process involving too many unnecessary steps. Most of my second interview involved meeting with two people I had already spoken to extensively in my first interview and they seemed to struggle with finding new questions to ask. Finally, I found it unprofessional that they would contact my references and ask me to fill out release forms before they had selected me as the final candidate. As a result of this my current employer is now aware I am looking for other employment which puts me in a bad position. Based on my experience, I would not recommend DAI to others.