Chemoxy International interview questions

The interview consisted of a visit on site (in Middlesbrough). It took them weeks to get the process going, but the headhunter explained they had undergone a major change in management over in their French site Sequens. So, that's OK, it happens. The process usually takes a long time anyway. The interview happened on site, over less than 4 hours. The first phase was meeting with someone from HR, and two people from the technical team. There were technical questions, and behaviour questions. Nothing too out of the ordinary. Except maybe one thing. I could really feel I was in front of people who work to make money. They must be very competent and nice people I am sure, but hearing things like "oh we worked on that, and it's good because we can make money" in front of young and keen prospective candidates who may work for a different aim, surely made me lose confidence in the company. They did not come forward and offer to pay for my expenses or anything. And asked if I could bring my own safety shoes for the visit of the site. Coming from a company which produced hydroalcoholic gel during the covid pandemic. I think the little things do matter. This is such an old-fashioned way to see work and it has put me off quite a bit. But here come the reasons why I was not keen at all. The second phase was a tour of the site, and I have never seen a site that looked that old. I think this is a typical contract organisation approach for that respect: old site, barely alive, and kept that way for "as long as it works", no plans to refurbish anything. Fumecupboard not separated from office space, some are still made out of wood (in a chemistry lab!), etc. When I asked them about the plans for growth in the first phase, they told me about expansion, more sites etc., but not one comment about refurbishing what they had. And the labs look poor and old fashioned. Most young people nowadays do internships in big pharma or at least decent labs, they will know what a decent safety standard is. So to say that this environment was not attractive is an understatement.