The whole process took a total of 20 days. I started by speaking with the hiring manager. The recruiter skipped the screening because I was an Employee Referral, and it seems she was pressed for time. This was unusual, and I didn't think it improved my candidate experience. Speaking to the hiring manager first, I realized I wasn't as clear on the role as I might have been had the recruiter spoken with me first. When we spoke, the hiring manager seemed to assume I knew more about the role than I did. He also seemed pressed for time, or just bothered by my basic questions about the role, so our conversation was short. Either way, I moved forward! After the short conversation with the hiring manager, I had to complete a take-home challenge. The take-home challenge was long, but perhaps because I worked harder on it than what was necessary. I had to watch two informational videos on YouTube (chosen by the hiring manager), then evaluate whether the presenters met their learning objectives, why, what I would modify, and what feedback I'd give to the moderators. The challenge was difficult because one of the videos is about JIRA and Agile, which are abstract concepts to a non-"techie." I also had to create two outlines for how I would adapt the videos to an e-learning course, since Cruise is adopting an LMS. That was fun. Finally, I had to answer 6 questions about myself, my strengths, weaknesses, and a time I planned a successful event, the stakeholders involved, and my role in collaborating with them. (It's unclear if someone actually read the take-home challenge, as I was not given explicit feedback on my work. It was also not referenced very much during the onsite interview.) Moving forward, I was invited to a 3.5 hour interview where I met with several people at the company from Learning and Development, Recruiting, and high-level People teams. Each interview was thirty minutes, except for one with the hiring manager, where he "collaborated" with me on creating an e-learning course. This was the oddest of the 5 onsite interviews because the hiring manager didn't really input much into the conversation. He stares blankly a lot, like as a habit, so I was left to wonder if I was being unclear, or if I was totally off, or if the hiring manager had already decided against my candidacy. It was socially uncomfortable. Each interview had a different focus, it seemed. I was interviewed based on themes: thoughtfulness/creativity, organization, collaboration, relationship-building. There was definitely overlap in the themes and questions, but I got the impression that each interviewer was focused on something different. It is unclear why I had to meet with so many different people. Ultimately, the onsite experience was an hour longer than most interviews and it didn't seem necessary, especially considering the role and after the already-cumbersome take-home challenge -- which, by the way, no one made mention of during the interview! Ultimately, the interview was tainted by the panel's tone, body language, and facial expression. At least half of the panel was excited about speaking with me and learning more about my experience, knowledge, and skills -- they acted as such, at least -- while the other half seemed less interested in my candidacy from the beginning of our conversations. Their shortness with me and lack of meaningful engagement made me walk away with the impression that the role was already filled, or that some members of the panel had already decided the role wasn't for me -- even before speaking with me. That cloud of doubt and uncertainty was palpable and confusing. I walked away feeling deflated and like I had wasted a lot of time. Why interview me at all? At the same time, it gave me a good sense of the company and team culture, I suppose! Finally, the onsite ended with the recruiter, who talked with me about the candidate experience and the compensation. The next day she emailed me to reject my application with no specific feedback. After the extensive assignment and long interview, I got the standard “you’re impressive but not a fit for the role— we’ll keep your information on file, though!”