I responded to an online posting for the manager position. Within 24 hours I received an e-mail indicating that I had been rejected. I was surprised, as I believed I was a great fit for the role and expected at least a phone interview. This was just the beginning of an arduous and disorganized process.
Over the next few days I contacted some acquaintances who worked there and was assured that I had not been rejected; the hiring manager told them I was still on the consideration list. 3.5 weeks after my application I was contacted by HR, who told me they had rejected me out of hand by accident as they "get so many poor applications".
A phone interview was set-up for the next day with HR; it went well from my perspective. There were very specific questions related to the job, including:
- asked how I heard about role
- asked why it appealed to me
- walked thru my career
- asked how I supported my team
- wanted perspective on being agency-like, taking big ideas and making them actionable
- asked about a specific previous role for me and how I got into User Experience
We also discussed compensation structure (raises, reviews), benefits:
- target bonus of 15% based on personal and company performance
- raises: annual merit reviews, key performance objectives, mid-year review, self-assessment at year end, beginning of year meet with manager for performance rating (1-5 scale; 3 is an "A"/meeting expectations/good thing). Manager will reach out to other team members for feedback.
- after bonus (paid in March), then there's a merit review (April)
- band structure: salary range for position, but not necessarily for band
- eligible for all benefits (medical/dental/flex), paid time off (vacation, personal days, holiday), employee discount, 401K (matched up to 6%). Health & Medical after 3 months; 401K after 6 months.
(NOTE: was surprised that health benefits didn't kick in for 3 months; was told this was due to frequent turnover in hotel properties and the need to maintain equitability across the org.)
I was led to believe it had been a positive interview, but that the hiring manager had several other candidates to consider. HR would pass on my info and the hiring manager would decide next steps.
I waited a few weeks to hear something, but never did. I finally contacted HR a month after the interview; they called back to tell me the position had been filled and they apologized for not getting back to me sooner.
One month after that--a full 8 weeks after the phone interview--I received an e-mail again telling me that the position had been filled.
Overall the process was a little confusing and frustrating--communication was definitely not as crisp as I would've expected.