After a friend and former employee of Fidelity sent my resume to a hiring manager, I was contacted by phone by a recruiter in Texas. She was calling to set up a phone interview for the following week. She gave me some suggestions and pointers and different areas to focus on before the phone interview, which I studied for and practiced each day before that happened.
The actual phone interview was a negative experience for me. Even though I had prepared more for this interview than any interview I've had in the past, the interviewer kept interrupting me and telling me I was answering the questions wrong. At one point, she said in a condescending voice, "Do you even know what a consultative question is?" and then proceeded to tell me I had no confidence in myself. Even though that experience was not a good one, she still scheduled an in person interview with some managers at the call center. She, again, gave me some pointers and areas to study before my in person interview, which I very much appreciated.
My in person interview was a a much better experience than the phone interview. Everyone I met and talked with was very friendly and kind. The first thing I did was take a cognitive test. It took me about 45 minutes to complete. After the test was completed, two hiring managers came into the room I took the test in and said that the interview would be beginning with a tour of the facilities. They showed me the different departments and where the training and studying would be taking place and asked me questions along the way. The types of questions they asked me during this portion of the interview were "The shift for this team is 1:00 pm to 12:30 am. Would you be able to work a shift like that?" It was pretty informal.
After the tour, we returned to the room where I took the test and they began what they called the formal interview where we discussed my previous work experience. Both managers were very friendly and supportive and positive, yet firm in what they were expecting from me. I felt very at ease speaking with them and, by the end of the interview, felt confident that I would get the job.
Four days after my in person interview, I received a phone call from the same recruiter who conducted my phone interview. She informed me that the managers were not considering me for the job anymore and gave me some "constructive" feedback regarding my interview. She said the managers were not impressed with me, that I namedropped people who had worked there previously as a way to get a job with them automatically, that I didn't know anything about the company or the Series 7 and 63 exams, and that they doubted my ability to set goals for myself and achieve them. I felt the feedback was not constructive at all and that for her to say I was "unimpressive" was something she didn't need to tell me.
Overall, the phone communication I had with Fidelity employees was extremely negative and unpleasant. As stated previously, my in person interview was very positive and I felt that working there could've been a good experience for me had my interviews gone better.
If you are about to interview for Fidelity, I would give this advice: make sure you know all about the exams you need to take to get the job, practice answering the sample interview questions with someone, do a lot of research about Fidelity on the website (make sure you know all the different aspects of the company and key financial terms) and expect the interview to be about two hours long.