I am contacted almost annually by a Slalom recruiter. Although I've followed them over the years, and have heard great things about the company, I hadn't been open for new opportunities until recently. Once I decided I was considering changing jobs, I responded to the last Slalom recruiter to contact me and received a speedy reply and request for availability. We had a quick phone screen and set up onsite interviews for a week or so later. Prior to the interview, I asked the recruiter for more info about the practice/title I was being considered for. She was very helpful in defining the practice, but could not be more specific than "Consultant" for title or job description. My background is very varied, from ETL to programming to project management, so it was a little tough preparing. I did not know exactly what to highlight since I did not know what projects or roles they were looking to fill. I practiced behavioral questions and felt comfortable aligning my background with a few of the job descriptions I was most interested in. I met with the practice lead and a consultant, and thought I did a good job of expressing the specific areas where I would be interested in contributing, and highlighting how my skills would make me a good fit. Both interviewers were very personable and I enjoyed the conversations. However, during a follow up call a few days later, I was given the following feedback on why I would not be moving forward: -We want people with more experience with Agile (I have relatively little work experience + higher education on the topic). -You didn't clearly express who you are and what you want to do aside from something "different". I struggled with how to rate my experience as everything was very pleasant aside from the end result. However, I decided to rate the interview as "Negative" for the following reasons, because I think the delivery of the decision exposed recruiting process and feedback delivery issues. I sincerely hope this helps Slalom better organize their recruitment process. 1. Due to the frequent LinkedIn contacts, I assumed my skillset aligned with open roles at Slalom. However, since the feedback received directly conflicts with this (Agile), I tend to think they are "throwing spaghetti against the wall" in terms of connecting with folks in the industry to maintain lots of interest in the company, without aligning the person with a specific role. I would recommend targeting fewer people and ensuring alignment before contact. 2. Vagueness of feedback. Telling someone they didn't explain who they are or what they want to do is not constructive feedback, after you spend two hours doing exactly that. I asked for further clarification, was not given it, and now assume it was a culture fit issue or they didn't have any projects that fit my skillset. I would have a much better impression of Slalom and be better able to understand why I don't fit there had I gotten clearer feedback.

I had a preliminary call with one of their in-house recruiters, and it was a pleasant and engaging conversation. I felt respected and appreciated. She shared that they actually had stopped hiring in Q4 but would check-in with me next year.