I made it through their entire interview process, I was 1 of the final 4 (I think) out of 200+ candidates who had applied for the position, and I’m EXHAUSTED. I still don’t know why I wasn’t chosen (despite the recruiter offering to have a final call with me and then dropping the ball,) and I still don't even know if the role would have met my financial goals, (salary wasn’t mentioned in the listing, which is now a Colorado state-wide requirement, and it wasn't discussed in any of the interviews.)
Luckily, you’ll be speaking with humans and 90% of the time they are quick to respond. Any rejection email you receive will also come from a human, not an automated system, and overall, they are pretty empathetic. However, one recruiter in particular seemed to be a bit disorganized and on multiple occasions, my emails got "lost in her inbox" and I had to follow up to make sure I did not fall through the cracks. Knowing how much time, effort, and heart I invested in this process, and after putting all my eggs in this one basket (because the process demands A LOT from you,) I now feel kicked to the curb without a clear understanding as to why.
1. First interview is a phone call, it’s more informational, more conversational, and the least intimidating of the whole process. The sales manager I interviewed with was AWESOME and I felt like we really connected, despite her determining that I may be a better fit for a different role I had applied for within the company.
(Surprisingly, I was rejected for BOTH positions I had initially applied for. I didn’t take no for an answer, and instead sent a really raw and genuine reply as to why they should consider ME, not my skillset, for a third opening I found on their website. My persistence paid off, and I continued on with their process for the third role.)
2. Second interview was a series of hypothetical scenario questions. This was challenging because despite switching gears and being considered for a new role, THEIR process picks up where they left off, and I wasn’t given the opportunity to have an initial informational interview about the new role. Due to my lack of knowledge about the role, I didn’t feel it was my best interview, but I took it upon myself to sign up for a Udemy course to learn more about the role and metrics, and emailed the interviewer to let him know I was being proactive to set myself up for success. I passed on to the next round.
3. Third round was a take-home assessment, which they claim should only take 1-2 hours, but if you want to stand out among the rest of the candidates, this timeframe is a total misrepresentation of how long it’ll probably take you. I had to create a how-to tutorial on a technical topic (similar in complexity to what you imagine Greenhouse to be, which is difficult since they don't give you a product demo.) It took me a full day to consider what topic I wanted to do my presentation on, a second day to create a rough draft, and a third day to refine it and show my creativity. It's up to you to decide how long you want to spend on it, but frankly, I can't comprehend how anyone would get through this round without investing multiple hours of time and energy. It was hard to complete without feeling like I should have gotten compensated in some way for my time.
1. Fourth round is a THREE HOUR INTERVIEW with a single 15 minute break and the process moves quickly. The time is broken out into 4 blocks with 6 interviewers in total. The first block is with your potential manager, discussing more in-depth your background and your feedback style. Second block is presenting your take-home assessment, the third is on culture and diversity, and the fourth is a series of case studies (and I would highly suggest researching case studies online tailored to the role you're applying for.) There was no “getting to know you” as a person, my values, interests, or anything that would potentially create bias. I felt bittersweet about this, considering that whoever accepts the position, they’ll have to work with, day in and day out and should at least LIKE on some level. I understand why they’ve avoided such questions, but in doing so, it has also taken an element of humanity out of the process, making it difficult to show up fully, as your whole self, because they’re so focused on doing the “right” and “fair” thing. It seemed like they were looking for very specific answers and nothing more, and being a complex, multi-dimensional individual, I didn’t feel fully seen in this process.
Would I go through the same exact process again to be considered for a future role? Probably not, and it's a bummer because I truly believe in their mission and would have been a great culture add. Even if I HAD gotten the job, it wouldn’t have changed the fact that their process is too demanding of candidates’ time / energy and seems to be overcompensating for the lack of thoroughness in other company processes. It's ironic, really.