Same as all the others listed here; albeit my timeline was a bit faster than most.
I applied online and was invited to take the online assessment that same day within 3 hours of submitting. Completed the assessment in 35 minutes and got a passing grade in one hour's time. Was then invited to schedule a phone interview for the following week. I chose noon on Wednesday.
The easy part was over. Now the fun began.
I'm qualified. I'm educated and a very well spoken person with a large vocabulary. I read through all of the interviews here and elsewhere on the internet. I looked up every conceivable variation of STAR questions and their rebuttals and strategies to sell myself under this interview process. I wrote out mock answers for many of these questions and generated a list of relevant experiences whose theme and end results would make me shine: multi-tasking, responsibility, diligence, dedication, etc.
I spoke with Bobby Quesada at the exact minute of my interview time-slot. This man was very professional and thorough throughout the 35 minute duration of the call. I, however, started off great with the usual interview banter: why progressive, why did you leave your last job, career highlights, etc--the problem was the three STAR questions that were chosen for me to answer had absolutely no relevance to the role I was interviewing for and neither did I have specific stories relevant to these questions. This left me an unprepared blubbering mess as I tried to scrape the bottom of my mind for something, anything relevant to sell myself for this position. And, as such, I came across as not an ideal candidate based on this interview technique. I won't fault the company's chosen process or Bobby for my lack of chutzpah, but I'll be damned if I don't interview great in person--and have job offers from Google and Facebook to prove it. Great company---frustrating interview process.
Lastly---I'm really confused that the company would do such a thorough background check (had I excelled at the interview and moved on) prior to any conditional or firm offer of employment. Interviewers beware--they will contact every employer, even your current one, so be sure you know your STAR questions not once, but two more times later in person at HQ.
Thanks for the chance, Progressive.