The interview process was exceptional. The process:
Applied to the role via LinkedIn shortly before the holiday timeframe.
Received a response through the org’s ATS system to schedule a call with the recruiter—very easy to schedule.
Had the call with the recruiter who was personable, kind, and clear about the process and next steps.
I was then moved forward to have a conversation with the hiring manager—the scheduling for that call was prompt, and the call happened a few days shortly after my call with the recruiter.
I had my call with the hiring manager. It was a 30 + plus min conversation. The Hiring Manager was personable and very straightforward and told me right out of the gate that he wasn’t, “…Going to ask you (me) any weird behavioral questions or things like that…” lol—which I totally appreciated, because really now, why?
After my call with the hiring manager, less than 30 mins later, the recruiter emailed me to simply ask, “How did it go?” — that simple act knocked me out. So simple, but hello, talk about classy!
Within 30 mins of my email response BACK, I was notified that I was moving forward in the process and would meet with a 4-person panel (45 mins one-on-ones each) and also give a 30 min presentation to everyone on the panel and the hiring manager.
The recruiter and his team quickly sent over calendar links to schedule my one-on-ones and presentation. They were very accommodating about splitting up my one-on-ones over two days and scheduling 15 mins breaks in between meetings so I could have a few mins to refresh and have a break before diving into the next conversation.
I then received an overall email which included my schedule of interviews, the names of the people I would meet with in my one-on-ones, my presentation “prompt,” and links to the org’s blog, social, etc. to learn more about Asana. My schedule also included a “greeting” to kick things off with an associate with the talent team as a “warm up” and to help ease into things—another example of Asana’s clear intention and approach to offering a process designed to bring out the best in their candidates and also provide a good quality candidate experience.
My one-on-ones were great. Each panelist focused on a different area, and asked me mostly situational questions and examples of past work. One of the panelists focused on my working style and process for how I organized my day and workflows, which I loved! As a genuinely organized individual who likes structure as well as creativity, I got to geek out about how I go about the business of being “me” both as an individual and as part of an organization and teammate.
My presentation was also positive—having the chance to respond to a prompt that focused on a past example of something I worked on, was a great experience because it allowed me to show and tell (20 mins), and answer questions (10 mins). As a very visual person myself, the exercise of illustrating my work coupled with my strategic thinking and KPIs allowed me to provide an example that demonstrated the breadth of my expertise, which may not always come through via standard interview questions. Anyone who has led highly complex projects or work streams, know what I mean by this. Overall I found the panelists engaged and I also appreciated that it was a prompt demonstrating a past example, vs., a case study or a hypothetical business problem—I’ve heard some unfortunate stories on those types of presentations where the candidate is asked to offer up a significant amount of work, only to be ghosted by the organization afterwards. That’s essentially free consulting, so I hope more candidates begin to vocalize their concerns about such requests. The Asana approach is a much more fair and agreeable way to hone in on someone’s talent and capabilities.
I didn’t ultimately land the role, as they had a stacked roster of candidates, but I had an opportunity to regroup with the recruiter to get some panelist feedback and have a healthy conversation about their decision not to move forward, which turns out was a fairly simple reason. Without such feedback, I would have been wondering (like many candidates do!), where I missed the boat or perhaps came up short. I so appreciated this!
*Recruiters take note—the simple act of feedback for candidates if they so ask for it, will set your brand and org apart from the rest. Anytime you enter into any level of engagement with a candidate, it’s actually a business transaction at its most basic level, and if done correctly, can and will pay dividends down the road. I think some recruiters and orgs forget this—we are all still humans, and you never know when paths will cross again, as it’s a small world! Net net, Asana really shines in this department and “gets it.”
