1. Phone Screen Recruiter
Standard and very quick. Straightforward, nothing unusual.
2. First Interview Outgoing COO
Warren was impressive. This role is backfilling him, and he provides a lot of helpful background on the company. A genuinely informative conversation.
3. Case Study Presentation CFO
The case study was fine and gives good context on the challenges the business is facing. I enjoyed meeting Jacqui.
4. Second Interview CEO
With Simon, you really need to think about what he wants to hear, rather than simply answering the questions at face value. I only realised afterwards that while he was asking about my previous companies, he was actually looking for something quite different in the responses.
5. Culture Interview Head of People
This part tripped me up the most. The Recruiter gives you a heads up that this won’t be fluffy or like a traditional culture interview, and that’s accurate. Be prepared to be tested, with nearly every question being probed two or three times. EJ has a similar style to the COO and provides a very honest view of the organisation, along with the real opportunities and challenges of working there. I enjoyed this conversation and got feedback at the end of this interview.
Overall
I genuinely enjoyed the process and appreciated the transparency throughout. I was ultimately declined for not having startup experience, but the structure of the interviews gives strong insight into what the company values and what they’re looking for and a snapshot of the different people working with you.
