2 phone interviews
1 on site interview day with 6 different people
Overall the experience was what I expected for a company of this size:
1. Slow communications between steps
2. Nice accommodations for an out of town interviewee
3. A day of "tell me how you handled this situation" and "what metrics would you use to monitor this process/goal/effect, etc", "how would you handle XX"
I was impressed by:
1. Amount of customer focus and metrics questions - seemed to drive home that they are all about their customers and using objective data to make decisions
2. Emphasis on creating, not just doing same ole same ole
I was underwhelmed by:
1. Enthusiasm of the people i interviewed with - no one seemed happy about working there
2. Lack of detail about the position & department. It could have been because the interviewers did not leave much time for me to ask questions I had.
3. Feedback from the general population in the area about this company - I spoke with a few people about my opportunity. Every one of them gave me "the face" - raised eyebrows with a half frown, then proceeded to give details of bad experiences they had or their friends had working there: every man for themselves, long hours, watch your back, or some such remark - a lot of turn over was the underlying theme with a lot of "oh, well good luck with that".
Hard work does not turn me off - I thrive in environments like that. Not feeling happy / satisfied about working hard does. If even one person I interviewed with or community member said something positive about the place I might have been disappointed about not getting an offer.
Advice for a future candidate:
1. focus answers on metrics and problem solving processes
2. Inject your questions as much as you can while answering their questions
