Applied thru a placement agency that specialized in temp to perm. The timeframe between first applying with the agency to interviewing with MetroPlus was approx 2 weeks. The interview was conducted via phone instead of zoom, which was actually good for me as I'm very incredibly shy. It was with 2 managers in the UM Dept. There was a 3rd manager that couldn't be present that day.
The 2 women started out nice enough, and asked me several ice breaker questions prior to starting the actual interview. They did not ask me any challenging questions like one would expect from a nursing interview. One question that stood out to me was they asked me what would make me a good supervisor. That's not the role I applied for, I applied for a regular nurse position. I answered it anyway, to the best of my ability. At my job at that time, I took part in interviewing candidates (along with other staff and the manager). These 2 women asked me about that and said something along the lines of "that's usually something a team lead does". Well, maybe, but at the job I was employed at that time, the manager gave all the nurses a chance to take part in interviewing as well. I asked them several questions about their workflow and what a typical day for them is like. I also asked them if there are any chances for challenging side projects. One of the women then got sort of snippy with me and said something like "why would you want more responsibility, you should focus on the actual role". I should've ended the interview at that time, I really don't know why I didn't. They also didn't answer my questions about the job itself, they gave me very vague answers. The interview lasted approx 20 minutes, most of the conversation was about what I do at my job (they are competitors), instead of them explaining the role to me.
The very next day, I find out from the agency that I didn't get the job. That was ok with me. I never go into any interview with the expectation of getting the job.
About 6 months later, I end up working with someone who came from MP that knows the managers of the department I interviewed in. It turns out the former team lead at my job was the 3rd manager that couldn't be present during my interview. She was on the call listening in to me and my answers, which I was not aware of at that time. I went back to the interview confirmation email (I save all employer emails for awhile to remember where I applied/interviewed with) and sure enough, the former team lead was listed there as a manager. It was all the way at the bottom of the email, which I didn't see prior. If I knew she worked there, I would've canceled the interview myself as I don't want to work with anyone from that other employer. I was trying to make a "clean break" from my job at that time.
This is one of the most unprofessional things I've ever experienced/heard regarding an employer. If she didn't want to work with anyone from her prior job, she should've told the agency not to move forward with me. Or tell them not to send anyone over from her prior job. Why waste my time? Why waste their time? It just feels disgusting and sneaky to have someone listening in to me, who I was told wasn't available. Also, I never had a problem with this 3rd manager when her and I worked together. I totally understand if she didn't want to work with anyone from the other place, but why try to make a fool out of job candidates from there?
I wanted to put my interview experience out there, especially after finding out the info I did after the fact. I just cannot believe a management team would do/allow something like this and IMO it's a red flag to anyone who would want to consider working for them. The insurance industry is a small world, so be aware you could be in the same situation as I was and not find out. I don't understand what the point was of that or what they were trying to accomplish. These other 2 managers didn't know me, never worked with me. They already knew they were not going to even give me a shot at the job but still "interviewed" me.