I was told by one of the hiring managers, who phoned me unannounced before the interview, that I “was not the kind of person they looked for” but that they would interview me because HR had recommended me. He then asked me “if I knew what I was getting into” and whether I expected “a silly salary.” I did my best to answer professionally and respectfully. This seemed to be in line with other glassdoor reports of HR and hiring managers at Thames not being aligned around the “diversity” issue. I decided to go ahead with the interview for the experience, but expected nothing to come of it after that conversation. The interview took place over Teams, with the two interviewers telling me they had a “script” and had to stick to it. They asked fairly routine project management competence/experience type questions. Both interviewers were men with backgrounds in engineering who had been with Thames for many years.

This seemed like a pro forma interview. HR at Thames ask line managers to interview candidates from different industries, but the hiring manager had already called me before the interview to tell me "you're not the kind of person we look for ... but HR recommended you." I have heard a similar story from another applicant. I rated the experience a negative because pushing industry and personal diversity on managers who want something else is not a great way to go. Calling someone's personal number without notice before an interview and asking many questions is also not a great way to go.