About two weeks after I submitted my application, I received a call from an HR representative asking for general information about my resume and experience. In her call, she told me to expect to hear from them about scheduling another phone interview with the hiring manager. One week later I had my phone interview. The questions were very standard and mostly focused on experience. At the end of the phone interview, the hiring manager told me that I would be receiving information about a third interview. The third interview took place about a week later and was onsite. Prior to the interview I was expected to create a sample project giving examples of the work I would do in the position. I was given roughly 10 scenarios that I had to address and a campaign that I had to create. The HR representative stated that only an hour should be spent on these projects, however, because of the sheer number of projects, it took me much longer to complete them. The in-person interview was rather unusual. When I arrived on-site there was no receptionist to greet me and no one knew where to direct me. It took about fifteen minutes to connect with the correct people and because of this, the interview ran behind schedule. My first interview was with the hiring manager where I showed her my project presentation. I was asked standard questions as well as what challenges I believe the position would face and what direction I would take the position in. My second interview was with the person who was formerly in the position. A this point, the interview took a rather unexpected turn as the interviewer described how much she disliked the position. I then had a third one-on-one interview with a senior member of the team. He asked me similar questions as the hiring manager. However, throughout the interview he stressed that while I had the most sustainability-related experience, that other candidates had more marketing experience. After the third interview was over, I met with the HR representative and was asked to describe the overall interview experience. I left the interview with a negative image of the company. While the products themselves promote sustainability, the actual employees don't view it as important. I was also told multiple times that employees did not like how isolated the company was, as it's in rural Iowa. While the HR representative assured me that the position had standard hours like a typical 9-5 job, the other interviewers made it seem like the hours would be long, so long in fact, that barbers come to the office because employees don't have time to get their hair cut. That combined with the fact that the person previously in the position stated that her work made her hate the world, made me very nervous about the company culture. About three weeks later, I received a call informing me that I did not get the position and was told to apply again once I had gained more experience.

There were three interviews in the hiring process, one brief phone interview with HR, one phone interview with the manager and then one interview on site with the manager and any other decision makers.