When contacted for an in-person interview, I was initially asked by the HR representative (from the initial screening company that GM uses) which interview slot would be best/most convenient for me. I answered that either early in the morning or late in the afternoon would be best since I am currently employed and would need to take time off for the interview. Oddly, despite my preferences, I ended up scheduled for a timeslot in the middle of the day where I had to take off a full day off work to attend the interview.
I was also told by the same HR rep to expect a 2-part, face-to-face interview where I would be interviewed by one manager for the first period and then interviewed by another manager for the second period. After initially checking in to the lobby reception area at GM headquarters in Detroit, approximately 20-30 minutes later I was taken upstairs with a number of other individuals also present for an interview. We were placed in a room and shown a short, promotional video about GM and the new Corvette. After the video, each person was pulled from the room, one-by-one, to go to an interview room with their first interviewer. I was the last one remaining in the room, and approximately 25-30 minutes later, I was led into a room with 2 interviewers. The interview was MUCH different from what I was led to believe from the HR rep I had spoken with by telephone. The interviewers barely made any eye contact with me the entire time and furiously typed on their laptops throughout the whole interview. It was the coldest, most impersonal interview I have ever been on, and the only interview I've ever had where I did not receive an immediate offer at the end of the interview.
I honestly do not know if the interviewers were typing my responses to the questions or online messaging one another, but the interview style was very impersonal. There were no questions about why I was interested in working for the company or why I was interested in that particular position, and when I tried to enter that information into the conversation, I was immediately cut-off. I'm very intuitive, and their behavior and obvious lack of interest gave me the distinct impression that they had already selected (perhaps informally) a candidate for the position and were simply going through the motions (with as little connection, interest, and eye contact as possible) to meet a required quota of interviewing x number of candidates before a formal selection could be made.
The whole experience was very discouraging and very disturbing as I had successfully worked for a subsidiary of the company many years ago and had very positive experiences with all the GM personnel I worked with and all the GM projects I had worked on. If this interview was a representation of the "new GM," I don't think I am a good fit. I cannot imagine working in a department where the management is as detached and uninterested as they were in my interview. That's definitely not how I manage or motivate my staff at a competitor organization.
The most eye contact the interviewers made with me was at the end of the interview as I was leaving. I forced them into a handshake by making the first move (as neither of them offerred to shake my hand or thank me for coming in) and remarking that all of the vehicles I have ever owned were GM. To that, they both looked up at me and one of them stated they hoped my next vehicle would also be a GM. With that, I was led out of the room and back to the elevator. It has been months since the interview, and I still have not yet received an offer or a rejection letter.
