The interviewing process was pretty standard however, the number of interviews (5-6) spanned several months. My contract at the company I was currently with was ending, and Sabrient seemed like a great fit. I made them aware of when my contract was ending, when I was able to start, and it was encouraged that I take a few weeks off in between jobs-a gesture I greatly appreciated.
The first interview was with members from the technical team and the CEO. Everybody was approachable, down to earth, and seemed like they would be fun to work with. This was more about myself, background, what I know about the company, finance, software engineering, etc.
The next few interviews were a blur, but had fun with them and were low stress. I will note that between interviews I would go a week (sometimes more) without any contact from the company. I had to, each time, ping someone about getting back to me. I understand that it's a small company with a fair amount of work, so I didn't really mind this but it was a red flag. Having interviewed people at my current position, I would never leave a candidate hanging and would show interest in them.
The second to last interview was with a few people at their Arizona office (I was applying at the Santa Barbara office). They were personable and we were able to talk about our personal lives, finance, computing, and other fun topics. I was comfortable enough with them to the point where it barely felt like a stressful interview.
The overall process above took around two months, and my contract was ending very soon (the next week). I hadn't heard back from the last call for over a week so I reached out again. It took several days for someone to get back to me. In this call, it was proposed that I spend half the year in their Arizona office which was a huge curve ball. Part of me felt like it was a power play because they knew my contract was ending and waited until I was (maybe what they thought) desperate for a job. This was a huge turn off and took me by surprise. I explained there is no way I could move from Santa Barbara to Arizona, and countered with a three month stint in AZ.
I never heard back from them after that call, which was incredibly rude and made the entire experience negative. I was tired of having to move the ball along after each step, lost interest in them, and never send a follow up email (I should never have had to in the first place).
The fact they waited months to mention that they wanted me in Arizona was dishonest in my eyes, and I'm glad that their colors showed at the end-there's no reason to work for someone with those characteristics.
