I applied online. The process took 1 week. I interviewed at Ekos in Feb 2022
Interview
They were quick to respond and set up time for initial interview. Very responsive. Casual virtual interview. They recorded it with my permission to share with other team members which I understand can help for efficiency. Nice people. Great communication.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Tell us about yourself and how you got where you are?
Was in the beginning process for a position here. I received an email writing sample test to submit. I guess it was not to their liking because I got axed from their process. The sample seemed like a very silly way to filter out applicants without picking up a phone or putting in any effort. I feel like I dodged a bullet here.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Respond to the writing prompt crafting an email to a customer.
Hi, thanks for sharing feedback about your experience during our recruiting process. While it's different than a typical intro call first method, we find that asking for a writing sample to start the process has worked well for us as the Implementation Specialist needs to have excellent writing and customer experience skills. While this may not have been the role for you at Ekos, there may be others that are better suited for you.
I applied online. The process took 6 weeks. I interviewed at Ekos (New York, NY)
Interview
I interviewed with 3 different Ekos employees. 1 potential colleague, 1 manager, and the CEO. Throughout nearly the entire month and a half long process of interviewing, I had to email them several times to remind them I was still interviewing. They had forgotten me.
Customer Success at Ekos is currently being managed by a product of the modern Ivy League that prioritizes diversity and inclusion over finding reliable candidates via merit. This individual displayed a cold, dispassionate, and robotic demeanor throughout the interview and was visibly disdainful towards my approach to the market segmentation analysis exercise. I finished the interview accepting that I wouldn't get the position and being grateful, as I already came to the conclusion this manager would make my life miserable.
Apparently they felt it was necessary to keep me around as a guinea pig for their interviewing process, and I made it to the third round with the CEO. True to the stereotypical behaviors of the position, their initially welcoming demeanor revealed itself to be meretricious; an understandable byproduct of having to constantly seek allies in the venture capital space. I had to nudge Ekos almost 3 weeks after this last meeting just to get a rejection email. When I asked for feedback on my performance, I was ignored.
I was truly passionate about joining this company until being strung along for almost 2 months. Also, along the way I dug into feedback on their product itself and was shocked at the amount of negative reviews by brewmasters, ciderworkers, and wine industry executives alike. The Ekos platform changes constantly, throws wrenches into processes it's advertised to improve, and ignores user feedback to the point of hilarity. Their incompetence has actually become a meme amongst the craft beer industry.
Do not go into your Ekos experience, as a user or prospective employee, with high expectations. Have respect for yourself or at least expect your time to be wasted.
Interview questions [6]
Question 1
Do you have any experience with the craft beverage industry?