Interview Experience after 7 years. Asked me hold my hands to the camera.
After 7 years in the professional space (5 years of solid experience in a mid-tier consultancy specializing in audits and RTR services, semi-qualified CA), I am finally back in the job market. I’ve always aspired to transition to an MNC, and my profile has luckily been getting good traction from BPO and BPM recruiters lately.
Today, I had a virtual interview with the BPM arm of a massive, global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting. It was a panel interview with two people.
Before we even started, they asked me to keep my hands up and visible to the camera. I complied. Mid-way through, I received a strict warning: if I move my hands, the interview will be halted and my candidature cancelled. To avoid any issues, I kept my hands up and folded them.
Then, Interviewer 2 took over. He literally asked me to close my eyes before he asked a question and keep them closed while giving my reply. I did it, but as the follow-up questions kept coming, I completely lost my patience. By this point, I had been sitting with my hands up in a Namaste position for 20 continuous minutes. If anyone had walked into my room out of context, it looked like I was praying to my tablet and chanting.
I finally just stopped replying to them.
To top it all off, at the end of the interview, the panel told me they received a system notification flagging me for using "agentic AI" to answer the questions.
I am a professional who takes integrity seriously. If I don't know an answer, I openly say "I don't know, but I'm willing to learn." I complied with every single one of their ridiculous, degrading requests, only for their broken proctoring software to flag me anyway.
I’m honestly just stunned at the absolute lack of professional respect. Is this what interviewing for major MNCs looks like now?
TL;DR: Semi-qualified CA with 5 years of audit experience interviewed with a major global BPM. The panel forced me to keep my hands folded/visible and close my eyes while answering for 20 minutes straight (looking like I was praying to my screen). After complying with everything, their flawed automated system flagged me for using "Agentic AI." So is this how it will be. I think no job is above ones self respect.