I applied online. The process took 1 day. I interviewed at Meltwater (Los Angeles, CA) in Sep 2016
Interview
BOTTOM LINE: I can only believe that Meltwater is a Ponzi scheme and/or cult. For a "media intelligence" company to put on such a show and not sell me on their product - let alone fully describe it - left me with a poor perspective of the company (which my colleagues in ad tech have never heard of, btw).
LONGER VERSION: After two phone interviews, I was invited to a group interview. At 8:30 AM in a hotel on a Monday morning. When I arrived, there was a group of college-age (or just out of college) kids dressed in business formal in the lobby. A blond woman came out to take "roll call" (she didn't introduce herself). What is this, school?? And why so formal??
They led us into a conference room that was set up panel style - candidates at a long table on one side, Meltwater employees on the other. They went through a spiel about the company with a deck that looked like it hasn't been updated since 2003. The graphics and design were terrible, and they spent about one minute actually talking about their product. They also kept insisting this was meant to be "fun" -- what's fun about a guy in a suit early Monday morning trying to convince us he's fun? Including the "now is the 15 minute break during which we mingle?" Totally forced and strange.
The next hour involved some group "discussions": a debate on the benefits of online vs in-store shopping; describe a client that could use Meltwater's projects; one minute explaining what you're passionate about. I don't know how this exercise was relevant to the company or position. It also became clear quickly that I was interviewing with folks for other (lower level) positions as well. There was one candidate that was smart; the others were incredibly unpolished and very green. (It's possible to be green AND polished, this was not the case).
After a truly awkward 90 minutes, I couldn't wait to get out of there. Super weird energy. They called me about half an hour later to let me know they felt I was "too experienced" for the role. No kidding. I told her I couldn't agree more. Even if they had invited me to the 1-on-1 interview, I would have declined.
They're likely able to attract youngsters by posting their salaries on the job req and hooking them in early in their careers. In my LinkedIn review, it seemed like the average employee age was under 25 with hugely inflated titles (Managing Director? Please).
In 10+ years in the workforce, I've never experienced an interview process quite like this. It was memorable, akin to a really bad date.
They also didn't validate for parking.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What is a client who could use Meltwater's services?
I applied online. The process took 1 week. I interviewed at Meltwater (New York, NY) in Feb 2015
Interview
Applied online to company website job posting, within a week had a phone interview set up. Should have been a straightforward and normal phone screening but the recruiter didn't ask very clear questions and had a harsh tone when speaking. Had a hard time having a real conversation with them, seemed like they hated their job.
I applied online. I interviewed at Meltwater (Washington, DC)
Interview
I applied through a LinkedIn job posting I saw the night before the deadline. I received an email the next day asking me my availability for a phone conversation that same afternoon. We scheduled a call and it went well. I was invited to a group interview at the new Marriott Marquis. There was about 10 of us and 5 people from Meltwater. I thought the company sounded great; young, energetic, smart with a lot of well known clients and many opportunities globally. I was still a little perplexed about what the actual job responsibilities were. I turned in a questionnaire.
At the hotel, there was a conference room reserved for the interview. All of the candidates were extremely friendly and smart. It seems that this company really went above and beyond to find extremely qualified people. Since I had applied on the later side of things, I had missed a company walk through and a meet and greet in weeks prior.
They gave a great presentation about the company and about the skills they were looking for. I was feeling really great about the company and definitely thought it was an opportunity I would enjoy. They had us do an introduction and a few short group case studies that I do not think were a good representation of my expertise. They also asked about our passions and hobbies. My group had many impressive talents and experiences. One guy sang some opera...how can you beat that? Others did volunteer work outside of the country. I, myself, had just finished my MBA and felt qualified for this position but it was hard to compete with so many others in the same room. An hour later, they called to tell me I was not being asked back for a one on one interview. I was a little disappointed, they had really sold me on the company and the company's culture.