Company recruiter reached out via e-mail -- did not reply to my immediate reply for over a week, despite several attempts to reach recruiter.
Initial screen with potential supervisor was via phone -- many of the 'run-of-the-mill' questions one would expect. This was acceptable, as there needs to be some way of keeping all interviewees on the same page and be able to compare them.
Next round (next week) was with 3 people (boss, another executive level person, and a 'peer'). Overall, friendly atmosphere, but I could already tell that everybody had different expectations from that position and there was no 'clear/final' job description.
Follow-up interview (2 or 3 weeks later) round was with A) 'boss of my boss' / PR boss and B) two other executive level people -- 2 interviewers per interview. (A) was constructive and 'give-and-take', (B) was another one those interviews where it became clear that expectations from and projections onto this position were not defined yet. Tough to sell yourself, if you do not know what to sell.
Did not hear for another week -- was asked to come back for another round to 'chat' one more time with a panel of 5 (I had already talked to all of them at least once before). At this point, I knew the decision was down to me or another candidate, but -- again -- I did not know what the parameters were and I could not quite get to the bottom of what Demand Media was looking for from the final round candidates.
About a week later, the opening was offered to the other candidate -- I cannot tell what the decision was based on, though.
Overall, the process was drawn out too long and I got the feeling that DM did not know what they were looking for -- rather that the job description evolved as they were looking for the candidate. Also, it did not feel as though my (potential future) supervisor was completely in charge of picking the new candidate independently -- it felt more like a decision by committee (which, in my mind almost always leads to compromise and subpar decisions when it comes to hiring. A team leader should pick his/her team and stand by that decision).
