The interview process was exceptionally long and a waste of time. I went through five rounds of interviews going as far as meeting the CEO and Chief Sales & Product Officer. Initially I was on the fence about working for this company based on poor Glassdoor reviews and lack of quality company values. However, the HR recruiter noted that the company was moving in a positive direction and the new CEO was working to turn things around, so I decided to move forward. The first red flag I noticed was that the company wasn’t clear on salary or level of the role. I asked the HR manager about salary and the range was very broad $85k - $145k annually. She mentioned that the company had not yet determined what level this position would be. I proceeded with the process based on my vast experience, in hopes they may consider developing the position into a manager/senior manager role. During the process I met the Director of DTC (hiring manager), the operations lead, customer service lead, two creative leads, a graphic designer, and finally members of the executive team mentioned before. My second concern was only having 30 minutes to meet with the hiring manager to whom the position would report directly. This wasn’t enough time for both him and I to ask questions, so most of the interview was focused on him making sure I was a good fit. I left with several remaining questions which I asked via email in a thank you note. From my interviews and talking with members of the team, everyone seemed friendly, but most were new to the company with less than 1 year tenure. They did a great job vetting me with challenging questions to evaluate my experience and thoughts on the current DTC site experience. I received positive feedback from each round. Before my fourth interview, I was informed that the CEO also wanted to meet me. This was always a possibility but wasn’t confirmed until later in the process. Going into the fifth and final interview with the executive team I was confident that the role was a good fit in terms of the job description, but I didn’t have a strong sense of the culture or if diversity of thoughts and ideas were welcome at Walker Edison. During my discussion with the CEO and Chief Sales & Product Officer I asked direct questions related to culture, DEI goals, and the CEO’s management style as well as his direct involvement in the day-to-day projects of the DTC team. Answers I received to these questions were insufficient and I lacked better understanding and confidence in the senior leadership. Overall, I can’t say for certain why I wasn’t extended an offer but as a person of color I question if this process would have been the same for other applicants. Ultimately, I do know that if an offer had been extended, I wouldn’t have accepted it.