Where do I begin? Recruiter reached out, we had a screening, then I met with a hiring manager. All good. After that? Awful. Recruiter sent email about next steps: 2.5 hour, 3 interview sessions. First session would be my sharing my screen and leading the discussion around a case study and raw data that was attached. Case study had 3 parts. Email also said that sessions 2 and 3 would cover client relationships and product knowledge. I had to ask what they meant by product knowledge...HH's products? No-how do you convey product knowledge to a customer. I prepped for the information I was given and provided my case study presentation 12-24 hours prior as requested. I spent DAYS on the case study-did so much research, manipulated the data into graphs and tables, provided insights that would demonstrate value and ROI to customer, etc etc. I was actually looking forward to presenting it so I could show how much time, effort and knowledge went into this. I've been a CSM for 10 years-position asks for 2 years of experience. This is not a senior role? Was ready for case study presentation but my interviewer never mentioned it-instead had a regular interview. I was completely caught off guard. Next interview began 15 minutes later and I was still reeling from what had just occurred-BTW-second interview was just your typical multi-part interview questions and never did I get to speak about how I build relationships with clients. Afterwards I emailed recruiter. And yes-they made a mistake-the person I met with thought I was interviewing for a different position he was hiring for. Seriously? So I had one more interview than everyone else? Interview #3 was fine but no talk about how I convey product knowledge to a customer. Was told by recruiter to keep my eyes open for an email to reschedule case study. Had my interview on a Wed-by Friday 5 pm heard nothing so emailed recruited. Within 30 seconds got email to reschedule-so she clearly forgot. Had interview to present case study. 30 minutes prior was asked to send my presentation...you mean the one I already sent you 10 days ago? So no one knows where it is and no one looked at it? Start interview, share my screen and am ready to lead the discussion, but I didn't get the opportunity to do that. Was first asked about my approach but that was in the slides so I started to read them and had additional notes I was referencing. As I'm going through the slides I'm asked to summarize the slide! Are you serious? Summarize the slide as I'm reading it-the slide that has detailed information? Does this mean you have not even read through my presentation? Sorry-but I can't summarize on the spot and shouldn't have to. We never got a chance for me to read through the slides nor did I have the opportunity to offer my insights and all the research I did. I addressed every question in the case study as well as provided assumptions, possible challenges/barriers, etc. When I received the rejection email I was just sick to my stomach-how dare you put people through that process for that role. A senior role? Yes. The process was disorganized and truthfully I felt disrespected-like my time and effort did not matter. Maybe I dodged a bullet-I don't know. But what I do know is that they could have had one of the best employees they've ever had because I know who I am and what I bring to the table. Good riddance.

The process felt very long. Longer than other startups I have interviewed with. It wasn't outstandingly difficult, but it was inefficient. You meet with a recruiter, then hiring manager, then have an "onsite" that is 3 hours or a little over. It didn't seem necessary to meet two director level people then another for a presentation. It would make more sense : recruiter, hiring manager, one or two members of the team you'd be joining (for culture and to get a feel of the environment) and presentation. If the reason for meeting two directors is the difference in questions, either have them both at one interview or combine the questions and only use one leader's time. Other big hangup is the CSM project. It was exceeding long. Not difficult but needs to be condensed. It is 3 part project. 1. You do a SAP for a fake account 4-8 slides 2. Marketing plan, also in 4-8 slides 3. You are expected to analyze a data set, which is generally simple. but takes time to review, use formulas and build graphs. They request (likely for legal reasons) to only spend "two hours" on it. It is not possible--unless your deck looks like a Windows 95 program, or you're a robot (or using AI)--to finish a 12-24 page deck and data analysis in under two hours. Just pick one piece that is the most important to you as a team. Do you want someone good with data insights, creative ideas, or really clear and detailed oriented and give them that section. I think interviewing tells you a lot about a company before you come on if you read between the lines.