The interview process was mixed for me but ultimately left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth.
They start off with a rudimentary phone interview with a lot of the usual generic, basic interview questions. After that, I was invited in for an interview with two people on the team that I would actually be working with. It's here that I got a bit excited about the job. They acknowledged the posted job description was a bit ambiguous (and I enjoyed the self-awareness--I like a team that's able to be straightforward and will clarify ambiguities). They seemed to have a lot of passion for improving the team they had recently inherited there and seemed to really align with my values (writing, even in the SEO age, can be of a certain caliber!). Since they seemed to really know what they wanted and were able to lay it out in a clear way, I was drawn to what seemed like an organized and forward-thinking company.
But that's the only part of the process where I got a sense of organization. I get the impression their HR assistant is completely overwhelmed by the number of openings they have, because she's pretty shoddy at responding to emails, even when candidates are still in the running. I replied with a thank you note and a follow-up a week later when I hadn't heard anything, and she replied to me 15 days after the original interview trying to schedule an interview for the next day (and this was already at 5 p.m.)!
When I had the third interview with two senior-level employees, it felt a bit like a setback. As passionate and inspiring as round two was, it was pretty apparent that neither had read my resume from the questions. One of the men didn't even ask a single question. It had a very wing-it feel to it. I did enjoy how the second interview felt more like a conversation than an interrogation (points toward thoughtfulness and implies a good working community), but the lack of preparation for the third interview (there wasn't even a room reserved), just made me feel like an afterthought. I kind of see the interview process as you're also trying to understand the company is a good fit, and you have to wonder if a person would show up to a third-round candidate intervew unprepared, how do they show up to other meetings? Regardless, I sent a thank you note (no reply), additional work samples (as they were asked for in the interview, but no reply), and a follow-up email three weeks later, and now a full month later, there still is no reply. That's a bit bizarre for a third-round interview. But reading some of the other reviews here, it seems to be pretty common practice.
So I'm left feeling a bit conflicted about the whole experience. On the one hand, I was excited about the range and potential I saw in the role, but I can't help but feeling like I dodged a bullet because in this line of work, preparation and good communication is paramount. But it's always hard to know if negligence is limited to one area or systemic.