smol (United Kingdom) interview questions

The interview was fairly casual, in more of a conversation style, mixed with a few questions about previous experience and how you would contribute to this role. Good to have solid examples of how you contributed at a previous role.

I have never been on a public forum before to talk about an experience (either job or recruitment). I would much prefer, and think it's more professional to contact people with feedback directly, but this company only send emails, they don't accept them! I've worked for 25 years and completed interview processes in large corps and also smaller SMEs and been fortunate to get the majority of these roles. I'm not saying this to be boastful, more to explain that I have some credibility in being able to reflect on a recruitment process. I didn't get the role due to being 'overqualified' which I'm absolutely fine with. However, I'm afraid the recruitment process has been poor and am hoping that this feedback may be received and the process improved for future employees. I applied for the role on the Smol website (the parameters of the hours they wanted someone to work kept changing in the weeks it was on the website but I know in scale-ups, things are busy and can change). After a couple of weeks, I received an invite to interview. The first red flag appeared when I responded to thank them and acknowledge receipt of the email and I noticed it bounced back. No personal details on the email so, if someone couldn't make the selected dates offered (four slots within a week), I am genuinely unclear how this could be resolved. I was lucky to be available. I had the interview. The two employees were very nice and I enjoyed the interview. I was then told, in the interview, that I would receive feedback the middle of the following week. It was over two weeks later that I received an email to say that one of the interviewers was travelling (which I find hard to believe wouldn't have been known at the time of interviewing) and so I would get interview outcome and feedback the following week. It says in the email to ask any questions so I reply to the email with a question. Bounces back because you can't reply! Week three and I am made aware, by a friend, that the role has now been briefed to an agency ( I still have not been told I haven't got the role) which is now on general recruitment sites. To clarify this (and without any way to contact the hiring manager), I have to go and find the customer services email and contact them, asking for the HR email details so I can actually contact them. They respond the next day saying they are sorry if you aren't receiving the emails from HR (which I am, I just can't respond to them!!) and HR will be in touch today (but they won't provide her details). This is three weeks and two days after interview. I get an email yesterday evening from the hiring manager saying "I'm sorry if you aren't getting my emails (which again is not what I said to customer services)". I didn't get the role (which was obvious). Improvements to the process please: - allow a candidate to have a way to respond or ask questions directly to the hiring manager. I have genuinely never known this before. - if the interviewer really is too busy to provide feedback, it doesn't take a moment to email the candidates, say they haven't made it to the next round and that feedback will be available by XX date. -Do not brief an agency to recruit for a role before you have told candidates who have interviewed that they haven't got the role. It's not professional and doesn't reflect your brand values of being reputable and ethical.