I got an email to come in for a 1-hour group interview for a yet to be determined number of paid internship positions. In the email it stressed to be on location on time as the interview cannot start late and no latecomers will be let in. To me it goes without saying for interviewees not to arrive late and as such no one in our group of 8 did. However, the room we were supposed to be using for the interview was in use for a meeting at the start of our scheduled interview time so we began about 15 minutes late anyways. While we were waiting, there was no waiting area for us in T1's office so we all just sat/stood (not enough seats for all 8 people) in the hallway of the common space of the office building until we were called upon, while the people using our boardroom looked out at us through the glass walls of the office. Once in the interview room, we sat around a long boardroom table in designated seats and we were interviewed by a Human Resources Account Executive while the Director of Human Resources sat at the back and I would imagine was taking notes. We went around the table and were asked the same 3 questions each. The first question we went around answering one by one in one direction, then we snaked back in the opposite direction for the second, and finally we did a zig-zag order from the back of the room to the front for the final question. For the second question we were asked about our work experience but were told to limit our response to one experience due to the time restrictions placed on us by starting the interview late, and for the third question we were asked to limit our response to 45 seconds for that same reason. The interviewer saved a few minutes at the end to answer some of our questions. However, we didn't go around the room this time, questions were just asked on a first-come/first-serve basis and due to time restrictions only about half the room got to ask a question, and for those who did ask, only got the chance to ask one question each. The interview end time of 5pm was not extended to compensate for the late start, so even if a person maximized their opportunity to speak, they still didn't even get a total of 5 minutes to speak for the entire interview. Overall, the interview was a pretty negative experience, and with the unknown nature of how many positions were available and the limited amount of time to sell yourself or vibe with the interviewer, the hiring decision might as well have been based on a roll of the dice. We weren't given an exact date of when we would hear back the results of the interview, but instead given a vague window of time to give the internal team enough time to figure out how many interns they needed. I'm big on getting rejection emails if I don't get an offer but none came, so if you interview here then don't hold your breath and keep on applying. I don't have enough information or evidence about the company to speak poorly about it, but if the level of attention given to this hiring process is any representation of the respect given to interns then I would look elsewhere for placement, if possible. However, if you do choose to come in for the interview, my best advice would be to prepare a good elevator pitch because that's about all the time you'll get to sell yourself.

The first step was a phone interview. It was conducted to assess my personality and interest in marketing and brand activations. This was followed by a group interview, very simple, and consisted of about ten questions. If you could smile and demonstrate a fit with the interviewing panel you were granted the job. Keep in mind that the majority of intern applicants get hired, not only because you're a good fit for TrojanOne, but because interns are a substitute for fulltime hires which are more expensive. Since this company is a small private one, don't expect anything glamourous.