E_Money

💰

How big is your interview process? 😘🍆

I am currently interviewing for new positions, wHAt ShOUld I SaY DurINg mY iNTerViEW?!

LOL

Just kidding...

However, I have noticed something during this process that I wanted to discuss here:

These interview process' are taking a loooong time, like in some cases almost 2 months now since I first applied. That got me thinking of how long other interview process' have taken for past jobs I have had and I noticed an interesting trend.

For the interviews that were over with rather quickly and I landed the job no problem, the job inevitably ended up sucking major ass. And the ones that took a longer time with multiple rounds of interviews, projects, and presentations (while way more anxiety producing) ended up being awesome places to work and I stayed longer.

Makes sense to me, but would love to know what you savages think about this or if you have had similar experiences.

-E$

🗣 Interviewing

15

28 comments

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funcoupons

WR Officer

9

👑

On average the sales roles I've interviewed for have been 3-4 interviews over the course of 2-3 weeks. That's a reasonable timeline for me. Anything longer and I start to wonder if they have their shit together/actually want me as a candidate.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

4

🦊

Yup. And how much you wanna bet the ones that drag it out end up reposting the job?

E_Money

Big Shot

4

💰

yeah 2-3 weeks or even a month is where I'd like to be. Any shorter or longer and I start seeing red flags

TheNegotiator

Arsonist

2

VP of Sales

I agree with what both of you are saying, I think with candidates like anything else, if you snooze you lose.

That said I was recruited in November, went through 4 rounds and got the offer. The recruiter straight up lied about the comp. so I told them to fuck off in the end. It wasn’t a short process either, but I wasn’t actively looking so it didn’t matter. I really liked the 2 VPs I would’ve reported to, and they really liked me, plus the product would’ve been perfect for my skillset.

5 months later the VP had the recruiter get back in touch. They filled that role shortly after I declined, but they’re actively trying to create a new layer above their Enterprise reps. They’re literally trying to piece together American accounts to justify a Canadian hire. No guarantees this even happens, but there’s a solid chance it could. Long processes are not always a bad thing.

TreTime

Catalyst

6

Account Executive

Just went through it. What worked for me is establishing your own timeline. Just like you would a sales process.

I want to be in role within one month.

What does your full interview process look like? Can you meet me on my timeline?

This worked for every company I interviewed with, they wanted longer windows but condensed to my timeline.

The Series A companies had more interviews total than those that were Series B-F.

Charito

Fire Starter

1

Senior Account Exec

Yep, get them to make upfront commitment about hiring decision timeline.

E_Money

Big Shot

1

💰

Makes sense and certainly something I try to do!

Sunbunny31

Politicker

3

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

My previous large employer has a very long interview and hiring process. They benefit from being a desirable place to work, and so attract a very large number of applicants. As a result, they are very deliberate in the process.

My current employer is smaller, and the interview/decision process was considerably shorter. However, I was approached by an internal VP with whom I'd worked in the past. As I wasn't actively looking at the time, it took longer than I think it would have had I been ready to go when I was first introduced. However, once I was in the process, it was remarkably short and sweet - two interviews. That's it. Been here a year, and I love it. However, I think that's because the VP is someone I trust, so I also knew what to expect.

E_Money

Big Shot

3

💰

Leadership is super important and hard to feel out while interviewing. Helpful to already be connected with someone you trust at an org.

DungeonsNDemos

Big Shot

2

Rolling 20's all day

My current job that I'm almost a month deep in was about 2 weeks, 5 zooms overall, and I was given an offer same day as the last zoom call.

2 months is too long for me. If they can't even move with urgency internally in this sales staff crunch, how will their team operate to get things done when I work with them?

E_Money

Big Shot

3

💰

Great point, although wouldn't you also want to work for a team that is careful about who they hire instead of rushing into things because of outside influences?

peachykeen

Politicker

2

sae e-commerce

Funny you mentioned this as I was literally thinking of this today. Sucks when you’re ready to work, but don’t wanna settle, ride the wave, do the interviews/presentations and try to keep anxiety in check. Brilliant.

E_Money

Big Shot

3

💰

Definitely. I AM READY!

playerone

Politicker

1

Regional Account Executive

The last two jobs had a three interview process. Though the last one made me interview with the President.

E_Money

Big Shot

2

💰

And did you notice any difference in how much the job did/didn't suck based on interview process?

playerone

Politicker

1

Regional Account Executive

Still trying to the find that out in the current one. Last one sucked a lot of ass but it paid me well and I made great friends. An interview process like that would filter out a lot of people that need jobs immediately. Seems too long, but a lot of these places get a thousand applicants

E_Money

Big Shot

2

💰

Yeah exactly, longer process = better selection in the end so you know you aren't working with idiots. At least that what I see

Pachacuti

Politicker

1

They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy

I had one interview process which took months and others which took a single day. 2-4 weeks, depending the number of interviews and the interviewer's schedules is usually appropriate.

E_Money

Big Shot

3

💰

A single day?! Haven't heard that one before...

Pachacuti

Politicker

1

They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy

It helped that I came in through an employee referral.

NotCreativeEnough

Big Shot

1

Professional Day Ruiner

as someone who recently treating finding a new job as my full time job and interviewed with probably 15 companies - some companies make the interview process so long and cumbersome I would eventually quit replying to recruiters to schedule "next steps". There is no reason an interview process should be more than 3-4 steps.

One company wanted me to schedule a 3 hour zoom interview with them, then cancelled it the day of wanting to reschedule.... I said thanks but no thanks I don't think they're a fit for me.

One place the process took a month and a half, but did at least result in an offer. I chose the company who took only 2 weeks from initial contact to offer. Being organized, straight forward, and concise is just as important during the interview process as it is while working with a customer.

E_Money

Big Shot

3

💰

Agreed on the 3-4 steps rule you have here. More than that is just unrealistic

ABCvs

Valued Contributor

1

VP of Growth

I try to keep our hiring to 4 weeks or less. This is largely dictated by the role I’m filling, the quality of candidates I received, and the total volume of candidates I have to work through.

On the short end I have had someone through the process in a week. They were a stud and everyone that interviewed this guy said essentially the same thing… “hire him or we will find ourselves selling against him next month”

On the long end it recently took about three months to secure a top performer. We had org changes that aligned with a acquisition and the candidate was closing out a quarter. We were both upfront about the timeline so there were no hard feelings or anxiety.

In all cases, over communication is key to the process. Have a time line in mind? Tell the hiring manager. If they don’t respect your timeline or you can’t work into theirs… find a different company.

EasyTechGuy

Opinionated

1

Sales Development

The position I just accepted had the following steps:

1. initial call with a recruiter the day after my application

2. Follow up with the director of sales

3. a written exercise ( general questions about me not so much job related),

4. and 5. Dual interview with a different sales director and a senior AE ( split by an hour)

6 and 7. Presentation to 4 people of varying seniority ( slides and background information provided by the org) followed by a debrief with the first director.

8. The recruiter followed up in a few days with an offer.

All told this took almost exactly a month from application to offer signed.

E_Money

Big Shot

2

💰

Damn 8 steps! That is wild. And the fact that they squeezed into a month is impressive.

DesertWarrior

Praised Answer

1

Sales Executive

Where I work it's 2-3 interviews. Most reps are referrals so VP Sales, Sales Manager, and VP Revenue already know if you can sell shit or not. Usually one interview is like a traditional one with the second happening over dinner and drinks.

E_Money

Big Shot

1

💰

Dinner and drinks? Sign me up.

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