Second stage was the 'face-to-face', although it was conducted remotely due to Covid-19. It was a little odd. A second interviewer who I was not expecting joined the meeting and did not introduce himself. The main interviewer did not bother to introduce this person either. The mainstay of the interview was a series of very prescribed competency questions, effectively protracted interpretations of "tell us about a time when you did X". I was given advance notice of precisely what these questions would be along with guidelines of how they wanted me to answer them using the 'STAR' framework; that's situation, task, actions and result for anyone not au fait with corporate jargon. I was also invited to explain at length the reasons that Co-op is so wonderful, ethical and a super-place that I'd love to work at. Judging from the material that was sent to me ahead of the interview it was safe to assume that a sycophantic response would be mandatory for success. Repeating the company values from their website was warmly received. Once the HR designated section of interview had passed I was asked a handful of very general role-specific questions, which were vague and required significant expansion through my own questions. For example, "what would your SEO strategy for groceries be?". Any answer to that question without a data led analysis of the market is going to be worthless; you can explain your approach, but you cannot provide an answer to 'what your strategy would be'. At the end of the process I asked if there would be a second stage as typically an interview for an SEO role would involve receiving a brief and giving a presentation to demonstrate knowledge. I was told that there would not be a 2nd stage unless exceptional circumstances were met and they were forced to decide by two equally worthy candidates. I would hear back from them by Tuesday next week (the interview was on a Wednesday).

I didn't hear back from Co-op on Tuesday next week. I heard back from them a fortnight after the interview. They wanted me to do a presentation. I guess those exceptional circumstances had been met (no, they hadn't, I was told that I was the only candidate they'd asked back for a second interview). The brief for the presentation had been rushed to say the least. It was clearly an after thought that Co-op had not allowed for in what seems to be a rigid interview process they've tried to apply to every department and role within the business. Nevertheless, I made the presentation and asked a few peers to review it, along with the brief. All agreed that every point outlined in the brief had been met within the presentation. I gave the presentation to the same two interviewers I'd met in stage two. They had a few questions, mainly about my data sources. Without access to Co-op's own data, any figures provided were estimates which was explained; the presentation was more of a demonstration of methodology. It was over quickly and I'd hear back from them the following day. I didn't hear back from them the following day and didn't receive a response until two days letter after I sent a chase email to their internal recruiter. I had been unsuccessful and was provided with feedback that included specific criticisms of the presentation including: 'It wouldn't be suitable for an non-SEO audience' - The requirement to present as though the audience was not familiar with SEO was not outlined in brief. 'Didn't forecast uplift in revenue' - This wouldn't be possible unless Co-op provided some data with average order value and conversion rates, something that I had acknowledged in my voice-over. The feedback left me wondering if Co-op should perhaps reconsider whether they want an SEO manager or a telepath. To summarise, the whole interview process took 6 weeks from submission of application to result. Outside of the heavily HR-mandated section of the 1st 'face-to'face' it felt very last minute and dis-organised and ultimately was a waste of time. Extremely frustrating, but I feel that I may have dodged a bullet if they're this chaotic with people outside of the organisation.