The interview process for this company is unbelievably poor. It is incredibly employer friendly and seems to have absolutely no regard respect for candidates time or effort.
I was strung along through months of assessments: Online tests, calls, Interviews. I was initially flown to London from Dublin for an interview where I had a good interview with the Human Resources team and once I arrived home I was contacted to say that I had progressed to the next stage of the assessment which would once again require me to fly to London. This took more time and eventually I returned to London for the next stage of the process which saw me on a video conference interview with a manager who from the London was not informed that I would be travelling to London and so he happened to be in the Dublin that day. So there was absolutely no need for me to travel for this.
The feedback then, was that they believed that I would be a good fit for the company's technical sales department, however they felt that I would be a better fit for a particular sub-department which was only based in Birmingham. Since I was excited to be a part of the company, I agreed that I would relocate to Birmingham for the role even though London was my preferred location. However, even though a senior company manager for the UK and Ireland had interviewed me and agreed that I would be a good fit for this department, this was not enough. I was told that I would have to fly to Birmingham on a separate date to meet with a manager in that particular department but was given the impression that this was just a formality and that I could expect to get the role. I was then told that I would be brought out with the manager on a full day of unpaid work called a 'taster day' out on the road visiting clients. I was happy to do this as I was interested in getting to see the job in practice. I was told that the day would just be to "give me a feel for the role". I flew out to Birmingham and paid for a hotel for 2 nights and scheduled viewings for apartments as I was given the impression that I would be starting in the role soon. I arrived in Birmingham and met the manager Matt Noon for my 'taster day'.
I was given the indication that this was solely for me to get to know the role ahead of starting with the company and that it was not going to be an interview. However, I prepared thoroughly, brushed up on my sales and product knowledge and showed a lot of interest in the role, asking plenty of questions and expressing my interest in both the company and the technical sales role. Matt Noon wasn't even aware of whether I had received a formal offer ahead of the day or not so communication in this company leaves much to be desired. Matt gave me the impression that all went well and I was extremely professional and polite throughout the day. After a full 10 hour day of work and months of endless recruitment processes and travelling, the only feedback that I received from Matt Noon was that I gave the impression that I "Just wanted a good job" and not necessarily this job. Although I pushed for more feedback as I couldn't believe that this was all I got from so much time and effort, I was given nothing else. No comments on my sales ability, technical knowledge, or any feedback as to why I would not perform well in this role this was the only semi-negative feedback I could be offered.The worst part of this was that if nothing else, I thought that the effort I put in and showed throughout the process to be available and to relocate for this position, would have proved my interest in the role. However my time was wasted and I was given false confidence throughout.
To anyone who is thinking about applying for a role in Keyence I would strongly advise against it. They constantly quote the salary/benefits to make you want the role more. The company demonstrated the height of hypocrisy in my experience as they employ recruiters to contact people about the role (many of whom have never heard of Keyence before), then make you demonstrate endless dedication to the company during the recruitment process, and then finally, the only feedback is that you don't want to work for Keyence enough. I hate companies who treat graduates with this level of disrespect and disregard for their time and effort. Since then, I have managed to land myself a good role with a company that values me. My advice to the company would be that if they expect people who were born wanting to work for Keyence, then don't use recruiters to approach candidates, they should simply accept applications from candidates that seek them out, because no amount of dedication to the company can convince them that you actually want to work for them. Also, to have more regard for candidates time.