I applied online. I interviewed at Think Systems, Inc.
Easy interview
Application
I interviewed at Think Systems, Inc.
Interview
Video interview and telephonic call with manager and HR. Took three days to finish the process of interview It’s almost an normal way of interview and not complex to attend
Had an introductory call and then an initial interview. The experience was positive for the most part. I will say that the people I talked to mentioned several times that we basically have to be available to work at all times. One said they've found the job doesn't seem to work out well for moms with kids who have to get different places (I am not sure that is legal to include?). So both in the intro call and the interview it was pretty clear there is no work-life balance or boundaries. Their most recent LinkedIn post even highlights the negative consequences of not having a work-life balance, though they don't sound like they've figured that out.
I thought the interview went ok, with them pointing out several things that I said as good or interesting, but they chose not to move forward. That is fine. I asked for feedback and just got ghosted. I wasn't all that interested as I want work-life balance, but it was disappointing to reach back out and not at least get a response.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Tell us about your background, How do you handle risk management.
I applied through a recruiter. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Think Systems, Inc. (Bethesda, MD) in Oct 2019
Interview
The interview is extremely deep-dive. This was for a direct hire by one of their clients. The long and short was that they were completely unaware of the realistic weekly hours expectations (told me ~40 per week, turned out to be ~50 per week!).
So I went through the extensive rounds of on-site discussions, business discussions, and ultimately it was never going to work out because the basic info I was given up front was wrong. I think everyone was very disappointed at the end. Think seems to have an "everyone will work any number of hours" default perspective, and I think that's ultimately what got them in trouble. The client also has this perspective, so it blinded them to the reality that most PMs don't want to work 10 hour days unless there's an emergency.
Overall, I put about 6 workhours into this interview, plus travel and parking on-site. I got right up to the point of getting a hard offer, and then they sprung the hours per week on me at the end.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
They had an extensive, hour-long roleplay of a discovery meeting where an entire project needed to be mapped out and presented back to the interviewer. I then had to go home and send them an elaborate MS Project file and THEN implement revisions based on more roleplay feedback. It was fairly true to the kind of work that Think does, I believe.
