Saw a job posting and responded. I was excited to get an interview with the VP and then onto a panel interview with the actual team. Overall it was a good experience with questions about my background, skills, what brought me to Sunstone, etc. I interviewed right after the 2024 election in late November, which also made it interesting to ask about how Sunstone planned to move forward under a new administration, etc.
I had to email them at the start of the new year to find out that something went haywire and I was not advancing/they never sent a rejection/something. Stuff happens so I let it slide. I applied for another position later in the year, was told I was one of 12 candidates to advance on Christmas Eve and could I send some writing samples between then and early January? I thought this was a weird thing to do but sent along my work, only to hear nothing since.
The email asking for samples laid out a timeline for how the process was supposed to go and I am disappointed that once again the organization apparently couldn't be bothered to either stick with the timeline, could not take a moment to inform one of 12 (and I assume more) they weren't advancing or what. I didn't bother following up but this is a place I'd write off.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Various questions about my background, experiences, interest in Sunstone, tools I had used, how I'd approach situations.
I applied online. I interviewed at Sunstone Strategies in Dec 2025
Interview
I applied for the position at the beginning of September 2025. I actually forgot I applied for the role until I received an email from the company two months later in the middle of November 2025. I had a phone screening with the VP where I was asked basic interview questions about myself and my skills. Two weeks later, I got an email asking me to complete a writing assignment, which I did within a few business days of the deadline. A week after completing the writing assignment, I was asked to schedule a panel interview (I believe the final round of interviews) with some of the team which took place a week later (end of December 2025). I was mostly asked situational questions related to the role. It was not until after the new year (second week of January 2026) that I got the rejection email. Overall, the interviewers were friendly and the interview process (minus the initial time it took for them to first get back to me after applying) went by fairly quickly and smoothly considering it was the holiday season. You can tell that this is an organization that cares greatly about DEI, climate change, and making an impact in the climate public relations space, so definitely have that mindset when applying for roles here.
Interview questions [4]
Question 1
How do you integrate DEI into your work with community partners?
