The first stage was a phone screening with a couple of accounts questions (very simple, asked by an HR guy who wouldn't know the answers himself were the answers not given to him, so had to be simple), friendly chat about what I was looking for and my background. This bit was fine. The second stage was a face to face at their office with a pen and paper skills test. The test was well within my comfort zone and the interviewers were friendly and questions quite relevant and straight forward. However: 1) There was no one on reception (this happened during my second interview as well) so I had to buzz and wait for someone to be leaving for lunch to let me in. 2) I was then left waiting for a long time while one of their sales staff walked up and down throwing a ball in the air and talking loudly into a hands free kit like a yuppie from the 80s ("yar yar yar! *loud fake laugh*") which was off putting. 3) I was then taken to the interview room and given my test but a woman came in three times saying that she had booked the room and wanted to know who I was and whether I could leave the room!! I was in the middle of an interview/test, I explained this but she carried on and came back two more times!! Despite this off-putting and unprofessional behaviour I answered all questions correctly. I mentioned this to the interviewers when they came back in and the female interviewer did a giggly laugh (as she had done randomly throughout most of the interview) and said "oh how strange" and then carried on. Despite seeing a very disorganized office on that visit I agreed to come back for the final stage which was a complete waste of time. The same interviewers from before asked the same couple of questions whilst some manager (who gave off very unpleasant vibes) sat disinterested at the end of a long table and didn't engage at all. I was then read out the results of my psychometric test (a brief online multiple choice waste of time that I had to do at home which is supposed to tell them/you about you) which was all generic stuff which would apply to most people. I agree with other reviewers that the third interview is a case of 'does the boss like your face'. If I was offered the role I would have really had to think about it due to how unpleasant this stage was and what the 'boss' was like. I got a call a week later to say that they felt I was 'over qualified' but refused to clarify in what way (surely if this was true they would have known this from my CV and not wasted my time with 3 interviews). My accounting qualifications were not at the top ACCA/CIMA level which was in the job advert so it couldn't have been that, my experience was of the exact kind of customer service and bookkeeping software on offer and of a non-managerial type as well so it couldn't have been that. He did remark that they believed I wanted a managerial job (despite me never saying anything like this at all or anything that could have even been taken to mean this, another case of a recruiter telling YOU what YOU want. The idea that me not being the one who authorises peoples annual leave requests would leave me unfulfilled was ridiculous) and besides, any ambitions to progress in my career would surely be in line with their company values (which I studied in great detail in the run up to the interview) and they had made a point in the interview of saying that it would take someone, even with previous Xero end user experience, 3-6 months of training and bedding in to be considered competent, so it's not like I would have time to get bored with the role or would have started asking for promotions within a year, I was keen to learn the job that was on offer. It was a very generic 'its not you its me' answer which in my opinion masked the fact it was down to the managers personal choice. I hate when companies have such involved recruitment processes (several stages, with tests and dressed up 'analysis' which makes it seem like they're applying real thought and science to it) only to give you a cop-out answer, it still comes down to whether your face fits, even in a technology company.

I had initial screening and then 1 hour assessment with behavioural questions and video interview. It was fast and moderately difficult. Then after a week of the assessment submission I got an email from HR team for initial interview. I am yet to take part in this interview and this will the my opportunity learn more about the company and the hiring process.