The first interview lasted over two hours, and my experience closely mirrored other Glassdoor reviews.
The overall hiring process stretched out for more than four and a half months. After the initial interview, I had a virtual team interview, followed by a request to submit samples of my sketches. Months later, they requested references — significantly more than the typical three required in most hiring processes.
The most disappointing part was that, after contacting my references, they asked me to return for yet another in-person team interview. This struck me as highly unprofessional. Once references are contacted, the process should be nearing a final decision, not looping back to additional interviews. It wasted the time of my references and signaled disorganization.
This experience revealed a lack of respect for candidates’ time. Future applicants should be aware that the process can be unusually long, repetitive, and indecisive. Proceed with caution, and set clear boundaries around your time and professional contacts.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
At GRAPHEK, our team values inclusivity and collaboration regardless of sexual identity, gender preference, religion, or other characteristics. How would you incorporate these values as a team member?
Bizarre interview with red flags and extremely lowball salary offer.
I interviewed here and the portfolio presentation went well (though extensive, about two hours with Q&A and going through my sketchbook), it was with a panel of employees who seemed lovely and had interesting questions and comments. Ellen, however, had weird comments throughout that felt manipulative, like her mentioning that “most people would think (my) work is boring, but (she) understands how good it is”. When I asked about the salary at the end of the interview her and her husband seemed disorganized and disagreed about it in front of me, before she mentioned 35k, which is laughably low for this type of job in the DMV. Overall this was a massive waste of time, and considering how subpar the work is to begin with I wouldn’t recommended young designers bothering to apply here
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Portfolio review/presentation with questions that lasted almost two hours