The interview process was a month and a half long and involved 6 different interviews. At the end of the day, it felt like the goalposts were moving. I asked qualifying questions in the beginning to ensure that this would be a good match, but the minute a “shinier” candidate came into the mix, it was like my previous interviews didn’t even matter. The hiring team was friendly and the recruiting manager gave goals and expectations before each interview. They asked smart, thought-provoking questions which I appreciated; however, they wanted me to present a year long playbook and only gave me 48 hours to do it. Then, I was criticized that it “didn’t go deep enough” when again, I spoke to the points to fill in the gaps. The case study project was ambiguous by design, which made me feel set up to fail. They also expect you to know the platform without giving you access. Regardless of performance here, I was still pushed through to the final. This was the most gut wrenching part—I felt I had earned this role by the end based on how the final interview went. But, after 45 days of interviewing, they went with someone who had more ad tech skills, and they brought an internal candidate into the mix 4 weeks after I began interviewing. Despite the friendly HR contact and team, I would reconsider applying here as it was an emotional roller coaster of “you did nothing wrong” to “we found someone better.” No hard feelings at all, but I need to vocalize that this stung at the end of the day and was an absolute blow to my confidence (directly because I received such strong feedback, but no offer). Word to the wise: don’t hold out for an answer here if you’re being strung along and if you have an offer on the table already with a different company, take it.