I was called for an impromptu phone interview while at work (I took a break to take the call), and was interviewed on the spot by the Hiring Manager and the Lead. They went over my experience, where I am currently employed which also most directly pertained to their need. It was about 20 minutes and went very well. I really liked the guys I spoke to. I was informed by email I'd get a call from the HR/Recruiter later that day. The next day I got the call from HR. She instantly went over the resume again, which was fine. She went over their very extensive benefits package, which is impressive. However they could not match my current pay, much less top it. I have really good benefits now though I must admit GA's were better. I essentially said I needed to at the very least make what I make now, and have relocation or a bonus (some kind of motivation to take the position). The HR person then talked about overtime being "10% of the pay" and that would help. Personally I loathe OT, I work it when needed (have made 4k this year in OT) but that was not a selling point to me. She kept talking about the great bennies and it was San Diego. I mean great, it's a nice city. However, I lived in Cali for 6 years and I specifically left it because it is over priced. So that also was not a selling point. The fact I was expected to leave my current better paying job in a less expensive area for their job was an odd play. GA gave me zero motivation to want this position other than the good vibe I got from the people I would have been working for and learning some new tech. I told her if they could do something, a bonus or anything if I was offered the position I'd come down for an in person visit (on my dime no less). In a week I got an email invite for the in person visit, but never a response to my initial compensation questions. I called and was told I was still the "lead candidate" but they wanted to explore local people first. I can respect that. I was told I would be called with an update, which I never was and they re-posted the position 2 weeks later. Sadly, GA are taking advantage of the economy. I had the qualifications they desired but they wanted to give me entry level pay. A shame because they really had everything else going for them and I would have done it if not for the low compensation offered.

Mine was out of the ordinary since they were in a deadline crunch and had a lot of collateral that still needed to be designed. I basically went over my experience, showed my portfolio and thanked them for their time. For the second interview (behavioral) they brought me into a conference room and showed me their current Ideas for the event and asked my opinion. I advised them to scrap everything and drew up a new event solution there on the spot. That's what got me the job - the stones to tell them their idea was crap.