I applied through a recruiter. I interviewed at VMware in Jul 2019
Interview
A recruiter from VMware contacted me, unsolicited. I was not looking for a job, but responded to him because it sounded like an interesting position. He scheduled a phone interview with me and it went quite well. He asked if I'd be willing to officially apply for the job so I could interview with a hiring manager. Sure! Why not?
So, I apply. I get an email asking about my availability for the following week and I respond. I hear nothing. Thursday of that following week, I email and ask for a followup. I get a response early Friday morning asking if I'm free around noon. I was busy at my current job, so I didn't have a chance to respond until around 11. I said if the hiring manager was free, I could chat between 12 and 12:30. No response. Just after 12, I get an unexpected call and have a very casual conversation with the person who I assume was the hiring manager. He asked me a few generic questions about my experience and background and I asked him questions about the day to day at VMware. At the end of our call, he said he enjoyed our chat and would like to move ahead with the process. Great! Sounds good.
A couple hours later, I get an email from the recruiter saying he couldn't schedule the interview at noon due to short notice. I responded saying I had already spoken to the hiring manager and we had a great chat. I ask about next steps. Nothing. A week later I email again. Nothing. A few days later I sent one final followup.
Aaaaaaand nothing.
So, again. I currently have a rather good job. I was not looking for a job. I was contacted by a recruiter from VMware. I went through the process requested by the recruiter. I took a couple hours of my own time to do this. The LEAST you could do is respond to me and let me know you're no longer interested. The whole thing was disorganized and the lack of communication was a bit shocking for such an established company. I don't appreciate having my time wasted.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What is your background? How long have you been in this field? What kinds of equipment have you worked with? Do you have any certifications? How do you approach professional development?
Honestly, nothing difficult or unexpected. Very predictable questions.