I was contacted by a recruiter in response to an online application. Had a phone screening and was invited in for a group interview. Similar to what others have written, the group interview was a little bizarre and unlike anything I've ever experienced. A full half day in a hotel conference room (why wouldn't they just do this in their office?) with 7 or so Meltwater employees and about 9 candidates. Group presentations, choosing who among your peers you would want to be your manager, elevator pitches, mock debates, and the like. I was called back later that day for an individual interview in their office. I had assumed an "individual interview" would be 1-1 with employees, maybe a few rounds of this. What actually happened was more like pledging a fraternity/sorority than a job interview. I sat across the table from all 7 employees from the morning session and they legit grilled me for an hour and a half on my experience, strengths/weaknesses, and business knowledge, which is fine. But they also asked a lot of very personal questions (who do you live with, how long have you been with your significant other, what would your best friend say your weaknesses are) and really pushed for the intimate details. They kept saying "we're sorry if this is weird we just want to get to know you" but it was really bizarre and prying. Seriously the weirdest, most intense interview process ever - I felt like I was being interviewed to adopt a child, not for a sales job. I also asked about the seemingly endless # of negative posts online about them, and they pretty much avoided the question and blamed it on a few immature ex employees. I got a call a few days later saying they weren't going to be making me an offer because they were looking for a "more experienced candidate" when I had more experience than anyone in my group and they spent all session telling us that they didn't care about experience and just wanted to bring in the right people and train them. Not even mad though, I probably would have declined anyway based on how strange and awkward the process was. Seems very cult-like.

It was a very long application process, 9 weeks from first email to final result. This was partly because the hiring manager took vacation during the process, but nonetheless it took way too long. Other than that it was fairly standard. I had a call with the recruiter (she was amazingly helpful all the way through) then I had a call with the hiring manager. The questions were quite generic, mostly focused around experience and very target focussed. I recommend doing some research into Meltwaters numbers, ARR for the role, book of business, growth & retention figures etc. The hiring manager was impressed that my own numbers were close to those he was hiring for. After this call we had another call with the hiring manager and a CSM and finally moved forward to the assignment round. I was given a business case and asked to put together and pitch for the client. The case was based around a PR crisis at Ahold Delhaize in Benelux, the task was to increase their package for greater coverage. There were 4 parts required for your answer: A recap of their current package, a deep dive into the scenario, a Q & A to explore pain points and areas for growth and finally the pitch. I created a slide deck and the entire pitch was supposed to be around 50 mins. Unfortunutely the EMEA director had to cut me short before I could get to the actual business pitch as he needed to attend another meeting. He asked me a lot direct questions and was very focussed on targets and performance. I was pretty dissapointed that I did not get to finish my pitch which probably cost me the interview in the end. The feedback I recieved is that I did not ask enough questions during the business case Q&A. While I did ask a lot of questions the director EMEA did express that I had not touched on a specfic paintpoint he was looking for. All is all it was an ok experience, just frustratingly long. I also found the environment quite serious and corporate and the director not very warm.