My first 30 minute phone interview was with a Merchant Success Manager, not a recruiter. We had a great conversation about my background and she provided me with an overview of the MSM role. About a week later I was asked to participate in the life story interview. This was with a recruiter and scheduled for 45 minutes. First, I think the life story is an awesome way to interview candidates. The recruiter that interviewed me was very nice and personable. I did find it challenging to fit my career journey, experiences and answer the recruiters questions and ask my own questions all in 45 minutes. I didn’t even get to talk about my successes in my current role which were more pertinent to the role I was interviewing for. I left feeling discouraged. I encourage you to be wise with your time on this one, it goes by quick! During my interview, the recruiter told me she thought she was my recruiter but she was not and another recruiter would actually be deciding if I would move to the final round of interviews, a recruiter I had never even spoken to. Maybe this is by design, I found it confusing. I was also told the role I applied for was very competitive and then she backtracked once she realized I applied for another region, probably an honest mistake. I would have loved to have moved forward in the interview process, but I cannot help but feel it was an unorganized and at times a confusing experience. I did appreciate the time the recruiter took to email me their decline to move forward, most companies these days prefer to ghost candidates. I was encouraged to gain more experience and apply after a 6 month time lapse for the same role.