I applied in September. I received my first call back in October. It was a phone interview with the hiring manager. Lots of questions mostly about how I would fit in with the culture. It was a really pleasant experience and I knew it was a place I wanted to work. I received a 2nd interview at the end of October. It was a video interview and it happened to be with the same manager. It went well. Typical questions about my experience with specific examples. Several questions that were obviously about culture fit. The interview went really well and I was again really impressed with the interviewer. I knew this was a place I wanted to work. Third interview came in November. I did a tour of the campus, met with two different teams and again met with the hiring manager. There was no mistake, this is the place I wanted to work. The culture, the people, the campus, everything was 100% what I was looking for. November 14th I received the call no one wants to hear in the recruiting process- the position was on a freeze and there will be no hiring until it is lifted. Totally deflating. If you are lucky enough to get an offer from Zappos, take it!

Zappos had this position open on and off for 6-13 months. As an experienced recruiter and manager this piqued my curiosity. After all, if they have trouble getting a technical recruiter they are probably going to have problems getting technical people. I decided to evaluate their hiring process and determine if there were flaws that would prevent my success. The answer was YES! I think Zappos has gotten lost in their "coolness" and forgotten the basics. Candidates have to have a similar experience as their customers! Zappos started with something I like which is just a quick upload of a resume. There's nothing more frustrating than having to spend a long time on a formal application only to have it disappear in to the black hole. A week or two later I recieved two e-mails that expressed interest and asked me to fill out an application, questionaire and then do a video interview. This is where they went astray. First and foremost if this is standard for every single job, it will explain why they can't find a recruiter and why they have even more difficulty getting technical people than an already challenging location for what they need. It's the first of the year. I'm in recruiting. New jobs are out and I'm working 12+ hours a day and barely have time to try to get to the gym, eat and go home and sleep and do it again. I completed the application the same way I'm completing this review. Starting at 5:30AM while I'm drinking my coffee. Standard interview except 3 of those ridiculous questions that people think are sooooo progressive that come around every decade and are really just a demonstration that they don't have a grasp of the basics. I will write the questions in the next section but let me say that every single one would indicate age and/or discriminate against over 40 workers. Seriously, how many over 40 people actually think of who their favorite superhero is? I'm more concerned about the US economy, foreign relations and how Obamacare is going to impact business and HR. I finished the application anyway because after all, I'm evaluating them. I don't *need* a new job. I'm considering them. The second e-mail I received asked me to complete a video interview. I found this interesting because their web site says it is option. Given that the only place I can do it is at work because I am home long enough to shower and leave and then come home and sleep I knew it was going to be some time until I could do it.... even though I had no intention. Why? Because video interviews are appropriate if you have an out of town candidate you have already phone interviewed and want to take them to the next step before paying travel costs. Outside of that, they might be using them to test technical skills but I can demonstrate those in another way. The bottom line is that video interviews lend themselves to younger people who generally look better on camera. This is just like receiving a CV from outside the US where a photo is on it. The first thing that happens in recruiting is we try to remove the photo and other personal information like marital status, age, number of children, etc. So I stalled and waited to see if Zappos was going to be rigid on this process. They were. Here's the rub. The questions lend themselves to younger people. Even your answers can. The videos lend themselves to younger people. In Zappos attemp to be hip and progressive, they have lost sight of the basics! In addition, Zappos clearly isn't dealing with the reality of how job seekers behave. Those in demand aren't going to jump through a lot of hoops. They are simply going to say "next". Rigidity in a hiring process doesn't work. I have to wonder if they know how to interview or if it would be a google-style interview which seems hip but is so 1990s! Bottom line - too much focus on cool and hip and not enough focus on the basics. Potentially discriminatory process and deep pockets (especially now that they are part of Amazon) Little probability of success for a Technical recruiter so I wouldn't accept the position if offered unless I ran the place and could change the process!