After applying online, they invited me for a recorded video interview. A website presents you with a series of timed questions for which you have anywhere from 45 seconds to 2.5 minutes to answer. You answer to your computer camera – there is no person on the other end. It is high-pressure mainly because you can't re-do an answer. Unlike an in-person interview or phone interview with actual human beings, you cannot make a correction, clarify your thoughts, or build a thought or conversation through discussion. In addition, gives WillowTree recruiters an opportunity to see your age, gender, and ethnicity without having to interact with you in person. This seems extremely problematic from a race, gender, and age blind hiring perspective. After going through the process, I lost any desire to apply again in the future – a company that goes through a soulless system like that to evaluate potential interviewees wants to attract a very specific type of person and culture. From looking at their team members page, they are apparently successful at getting it.

Let me be clear up front: the actual hiring team was one of the most glowing interview experiences I've ever had. The problem is that the *company* made it into one of the most horrific interview experiences I've ever had. Their culture interview raised one of the greenest flags I've ever encountered in an interview -- "what does psychological safety mean to you?" But as much as I can believe the individuals who asked me this, the thing is... when WillowTree says they value psychological safety, WillowTree is lying. Because they have no problem rescinding a job offer if you ask too many questions after reading the fine print. (On an incredibly related note, Glassdoor needs a 4th option when asking about whether you got one.) Now that wasn't even the *only* lie. Adding insult to injury, these people had the audacity to then send me *a candidate survey* afterward, with the subject line "we'd love your feedback." Now, I understand that this is automated, but if you're using automation in your processes, you're also responsible for using it better than that. Even in the best case, soliciting feedback, after pulling a job offer on someone for any reason, is comically terrible. This piece alone alone is easily the most spectacular failure I have encountered interviewing for any job anywhere. There's deserving to get embarrassed by the ways your processes go sideways, and then there's *literally asking for it.*