I applied online and received an invite to their assessment day. It was a group interview that consisted of a group presentation, if successful it was followed by 2 more interviews. After the interviews having spoke to the account director he made it seem as if the last few candidates had the job in the bag. Being left feeling hopeful only to not receive a follow up at all about whether I was rejected or accepted. This was very disappointing and reflects badly on the company.

Application and straight to an assessment day. Assessment day consisted of: an icebreaker, company talk, group task incl. presentation and for the lucky ones the first chance in the whole process to actually have a 1:1 conversation (interview) with the assessors for the scheme. Once the group presentations were over, we had our lunch whilst the assessors met to discuss who to invite for the 1:1 interviews. At the end of lunch a few assessors came back, called out the names of the people they wanted to speak to further whilst the rest of us were left in the dark for 5-10 mins suspecting that we didn't get through. When the 'talent acquisition' person finally came back he genuinely said something along the lines of 'hope the lunch was nice, we don't think you're not the right fit but there were people here who had better aligned skills for the role but we think there is potential so would like to speak to you further about other options but in the meantime Marlow has some nice boutique shops which you are free to go and explore. Thanks for coming, bye'. Not only was the whole process post lunch humiliating but also full of empty promises. It's been three weeks and I've heard nothing. I assumed they wouldn't ring for a chat to offer another role but I at least hoped for feedback on my performance especially given that I asked for it directly via email after which they didn't even have the decency to reply to. But what I am mostly disappointed about is the fact that I didn't even get a chance to tell any of the assessors why I even bothered with taking time out of my life, traveling to the middle of nowhere and explaining why I put all that effort into applying for a role at their company. They may treat people who work for them well but obviously have zero respect to those who do not benefit their business. This may sound like a bitter person's rant but in reality I was going to keep this to myself and give them (the benefit of the doubt and) direct feedback on the process which I was hoping to exchange for feedback on my performance- sadly they obviously could not care less. Assessment days are supposed to be a two way stream and they sure proved the kind of business they are. One piece of advice to the business- invite less people to the assessment (whose skills are better aligned for the role from the beginning) and give them all a chance to interview instead of making them feel like they are worthless and don't deserve the time of your day to speak 1:1 for at least one time in the whole process.