Read the following extracts from an unsuccessful interviewee's account of her experience in applying for the post of Personal Assistant advertised by a management consultancy. Summarise the shortcomings of the firm's recruitment, interviewing and selection techniques.

Q. What position were you applying for?

A. The advertisement was not very clear but I think one could definitely say it was a personal assistant. I didn't think that the company had really clarified in their own minds what they expected from the applicant.

It was not their intention to employ a secretary but rather someone in the nature of a co-ordinator.

Q, What attracted you to the advertisement?
A. The fact that it was a fairly senior position and did not entail shorthand.
I understood that it was of an administrative nature. I applied for an appointment but did not hear from them for several months. Then out of the blue I received a letter. Naturally after all this time I had forgotten about the job and as I had not kept the ad cutting it was a case of putting two and two together. I rang and asked what the job entailed and was told that they had had more than 300 replies. They had whittled these down and had chosen four women for interview. I felt that this can't be bad so I duly went along.
[The interviewer] ... asked me what I knew about management consultancy. I said that I assumed it had something to do with selection, amongst other functions .. At this point he shoved a great pile of papers and files at me which I assumed he wanted me to look at. In the meantime people were coming in and going out and the telephone was constantly ringing. I had the feeling that the impression he was trying to create was that he was very high powered and I certainly was impressed.
We rambled from one topic to another. First I was told about management consultancy and how their business had grown, the changes they had made and the kinds of things they concentrated on. From this I began to realise what side of management consultancy he was talking about and gradually things became more clear in my mind. We finally got round to the question of what I was to do in the organisation, all of which had taken about three quarters of an hour with interruptions and cups of coffee. I was also told abo·ut his job in Australia and, most important of all, that the last girl he had employed had finished up with a nervous breakdown and had to be sent away for a month. Apparently they realised that to co-ordinate their various activities - what jobs were on hand and who was attending to them and also the different locations of the consultants at any time - a secretary was so much waste of time. At this stage he called in his partner and I gathered from what was said that I would be expected to work for him as well. I remember specifically saying 'Look, if I'm with you and with him, who is minding the store back here?' The reply was that this was something that was going to be worked out later.
Q, Was the duration of the interview adequate?
A. It went on for two hours and they seemed to think we all got on splendidly. I, on the other hand, came away feeling totally bemused. Of course I was told that no decisions about taking on new staff could be made without being vetted by their psychologist. The psychological tests were going to find out what sort of person I was. All he really wanted to do at that [first] interview was to find out if he personally liked me or not. Possibly also whether I liked him, but it looked very much ~ if assumed that this was so. As far as he was concerned, only two of the four short-listed applicants were chosen to go for the tests and I had given a thorough rundown of my experience in my letter of application.
He didn't go into my past history. Well, he really didn't ask any questions at all. He told me and it really seemed like a one-man band.
The impression I had when the question of my knowledge of management Consultancy came up was that he had scored a point over me and that was fine with him. Of course this having scored a point over me did not seem the right attitude at all. I am sure an interviewer must always remain objective and I felt that he was very subjective, the subject being himself.
Q. Did the interview end on a warm and friendly note?
A. We were very good friends, indeed: in fact the switchboard girl remarked on my way out that he must have liked me, otherwise the whole thing would have been over in ten minutes.
Q. What happened then?
A. A call came through asking me to attend a second interview. I went along thinking that I was going to have an interview with their psychologist roughly on the. lines of questions relevant to the job and personality, but nothing of the sort. I arrived at the place which was in a basement. The psychologist did not appear; his wife, who I think acted as his assistant, . handed me the various papers. As far as I remember there were some timed tests at the beginning and then the major one which I think had something like two hundred and ninety questions. It took from about one o'clock to five. I believe one was the recognition test where one has to fill in the next line, where one gets circles and squares. I don't know the name. It was quite meaningless to me. I simply viewed all these with total disbelief when I realised what I had let myself in for.
As far as I can recall there were three [separate) tests. The first short one was timed and then we had this very long one. At the beginning of the questionnaire it said that there were various questions on sex, which you could leave out if you wished. For example, do I like to leave my desk tidy or do I like to kiss attractive men. I just ask you, which does one answer? There were so many that one just plodded on until they were finished. After that I took one more test in English and Arithmetric at which I probably failed, but by that time I couldn't sit upright any more and I really did not care anyway.
Q. What happened after you had finished the tests?
A. They said they would let me know. Later I had a letter of rejection results but was told that as these belonged to the company they had no power to release them.
Q. Why did you not refuse to take the tests at the beginning?
A. I was in two minds about this but I was also at the time interested in getting the job, although the more I thought about it the less I wanted it. (1218 words.)
(From Eva Roman and Derek Gould, Recruitment and Selection of Typists and Secretaries)