The recruiter was incredibly complimentary of both my resume and online portfolio. Very professional and said I'd be moving on to the next round 10 minutes into our interview. I finished that call feeling extremely confident that although there were still several interviews to go before a possible offer, I was definitely a serious contender. Imagine my confusion when ten days later, I received a computer-generated (do not reply to this email) rejection saying they'd "found a candidate who we feel is a better match for this particular position". I'm not saying this rejection was coming from the recruiter...obviously, someone else pulled the plug. I suspect ageism, but have absolutely no proof. However, since it was so early in the total interview process, with many phone interviews to go, and she couldn't have been more complimentary of my work, I can't come to any other conclusion. BTW, the position is still posted as being open on LinkedIn. (Applicant beware.) I've never posted on Glassdoor before, but have come to rely heavily on the wonderful, honest community here, so I felt my experience might help someone else. I hope so. I consider myself pretty level-headed and yet I was lead to believe that I had an extremely good chance that the position was mine...that I was "exactly what they were looking for".

I applied online for a Content Developer position at Duarte and was contacted by their recruiter two weeks later. We scheduled an initial screening phone call that same week. After that, I submitted a series of writing samples and scheduled a phone interview with two senior members of the Content/Strategy team. Following that phone call, I was given a writing exercise to complete and flown out to Duarte headquarters to pitch my ideas in person to the entire Content/Strategy team (about 8 people). I think I read a Glassdoor review that compared this interview experience to standing in front of a "firing squad" and I did not find that to be the case at all. It may have been nervewracking, but I found the team to be exceptionally warm and that put me at ease. They asked tough questions, but the ability to think on your feet is what makes you qualified to do this job. Following that interview, I had one more phone call before receiving an official offer. From submitting an online application to accepting an offer, the entire process took about 8 weeks -- given, I was out of the country for about a month during that time. Overall, I found the process to move very quickly. Duarte's recruiter and HR team were both very responsive with email communication and very accommodating to my schedule. Every person that I encountered throughout the hiring process was genuine, honest, and kind. They worked hard to make sure that this would be a good fit for us both. I appreciated that attention to detail both then (as a potential employee) and now (as a new hire).