The interview process was fairly quick after they contacted me. They actually contacted me for a position different than applied for. The recruiter and the hiring manager were very friendly, but I knew from the start my interview with the hiring manager was off. I was on my game and I felt that my answers were great. It felt like she was unprepared and perhaps disinterested (despite being friendly). When we got off the phone I knew I didn't get it. In hindsight it felt like the hiring manager might have been interviewing for the sake of interviewing and knowing they had another candidate they wanted. Or maybe I said something that was just not in line with the team dynamics. My advice is to study the cultural deck, but also don't beat yourself up if they pass on you.

I made it through 3 phone screenings: 1. Talent Recruiter (week one) 2. Hiring Manager (week one) 3. The Direct Manager (week two) The talent recruiter and the hiring manager were very pleasant. They were on time, thorough about the role, open to dialogue, and provided next steps in the hiring process at the end the call. The turnaround for a respond was no longer than 24 to 48 hours. On the contrast, the direct manager was not a pleasant experience. This individual was almost 10 minutes late to the call, without apology. Very hard to read and stoic, which made the phone screening a bit uncomfortable to complete. The call ended with no details regarding next steps. It was pretty obvious the manager was not interested, or had another candidate in mind. It definitely made me skeptical about the possibility of working with that direct manager and what that work relationship would be like.