I applied online. I interviewed at The Hustle in Nov 2020
Interview
My experience was great until I met with the CEO (see below). 1st Round: 30-minute Zoom call with Head of Growth. I had a positive impression of the company after this call. The interviewer was very friendly and we connected well about the role.
Assignment: After the first round, they sent over an assignment they wanted me to complete. The instructions mentioned, “the assignment shouldn’t take more than an hour or two.” This was a bit annoying because due to the length of the assignment, I knew it would clearly take longer than 1-2 hours. In total, I spent -6 hours on the assignment before sending it back for their review.
2nd Round: This consisted of meeting with a total of 5 employees. I thought it was a little overkill having to meet with so many people going over similar questions back to back. However, I still had a positive experience during this round and all of the employees I spoke with were friendly. I left these rounds excited for the final interview with the CEO.
Final Round with CEO: This is where things went south. After already having invested a significant amount of time and energy with the company, I was expecting the final round to go similarly compared to the previous rounds. I was very wrong. I was completely turned off by the CEO’s abrasiveness and negative attitude during the interview. During the interview, he made several concerning comments about the company and its employees. One remark he made (which in my opinion was sexist) included: “I’m tired how the team acts like they’re in a frat house. It’s time for the employees to grow up. Even the girls that work here act like the guys and think they’re bros.” The company’s values include “default to optimism” and “disregard ego” which is interesting because I got the opposite vibe of that when speaking to the CEO. I was uninterested in joining the company after this round.
I never heard back from the company with their decision. It’s quite ironic how the assignment I completed was all about improving the candidate experience and company culture, only for them to ghost someone who completed the final round. It’s a shame how I had a great experience only for my opinion of the company to do a 180. It makes more sense now as to why the company struggles with high turnover rates. During many points in the process, I also questioned whether or not they were actually hiring someone for the role, or if they were just looking to get free consultation.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What are some examples of processes you've improved in previous roles? Where do you go to source candidates? What initiatives can you think of would be good to improve company culture?
It was a fairly straightforward process, with four rounds of interviews with art test after the first interview. The number of rounds would most likely depend on the size of the team that you would be joining. I had to wait longer than expected for the company's decision, but other than the stretched out timeline, it was a good experience. Most of the interviews were fairly conversational and the people I spoke to were, overall, very friendly.
I applied through an employee referral. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at The Hustle (Austin, TX) in Aug 2019
Interview
I had a phone interview with the hiring manager then an in-person interview with her, the creative director and two sales manager. After the interview, we briefly discussed compensation and I was very upfront about my expectation. She said she would get back to me after discussing with some execs. I never heard back.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
All questions were standard and expected interview questions.
