Internal referral to hiring manager. Several phone briefs. Series of phone interviews. Two with HR leads. HR likes to discuss pay up front. Do your homework as to how to handle this approach. Two with stakeholders. One with supervisor and one with supervisor’s supervisor. Went well. Flown in for finals with the supervisor and supervisor’s supervisor. Offices are sterile and uninspiring for a tech company flush with capital. Everyone was borderline overly gracious. Do not be disarmed by it. Very last interview fell apart. Senior most interviewer unraveled when challenged a bit. Strong sense of micro management and insecurity blended with stress. Quite happy it became apparent during the interview. I threw a few triggers at the end to kill off the candidacy. It would not have lasted long. Shame. Met some great people who needed some real talent and help. Titles are notched up a bit due to it being the financial industry. If you come from a software or software ops background and you are applying for VP (it is really a director), Director (it is really a product manager), etc. Had to write and call a month later to learn I did not get the position. Good brand, decent pay, nice deferred stock grants and bonus structure. Find the right area and people and make a go of it. If you smell smoke, then there is fire. Had I simply needed the work for money, then I would have played the fiddle.

Friendly people. Standard interview. Hyper-sensitivity to experience with competitors. Appears to be fragmented company.