I was excited to interview with this technology services company on the platform where I have an account and from which a significant chunk of my work derives. This quickly turned to disappointment despite that the Partner made me a contract offer both verbally and in writing, as they took 3 weeks and then did not make good on their offer, and I was forced to withdraw my interview status and to take another contract offer off-platform that I'd been negotiating. Interview 1: Screened by support staff. Interview 2: One of their two partners (the C-Suite) interviewed me. Both interviews took place on Zoom. They asked good questions that were relevant to the types of technical proposals, report, and PR work they were needing, and the Partner I spoke to in Interview 2 verbally indicated he was ready to hire me to things out. It seemed like a good fit even if it had taken considerable time for them to interview (the process is much shorter on a platform than when interviewing a W2 or W2C. The verbal offer was made on a Friday afternoon, and I had been in process in the interview stages with them for almost 2 weeks after having waited a week for response to the original proposal. On that platform, it's a red flag if you haven't opened a contract after 3 weeks and the platform begins to send you notices. The following Monday I received a written confirmation from the administrative team member who screened me that I'd be hired for a trial contract to see if we were a good long-term fit, and I could expect paperwork later that day. It never arrived, but I expected it would the next day, giving them the benefit of the doubt, again, that they were slow. Note that process policy on the platform is to open a contract at that time and then negotiate any additional paperwork needed that isn't built in, such as extra NDAs, if needed, but nothing occurred. By the following afternoon they were not responding at all to my communication, nothing had arrived and no contract had been opened through the platform channels, and asking them what the slow down was, I also reminded them that consultants are not employees and that having multiple clients requires planning decisions. I'd been putting off my own Q1 and Q2 calendar locking to give them time to make a decision. They did not respond and I withdrew my interview status that afternoon, so I could accept other positions I'd been offered, and protect the integrity of my existing contract with a valued Silicon Valley firm. My take on BLN24 is that despite having 40-50 people on staff they are disorganized, with little PM process having posted a job without a plan for that position's schedule, projects, or workflow. During the second interview, they could not answer basic questions about what types of projects they had lined up for the position or how many hours a ~week/month. The lack of planning and information was a significant concern at this level of service. After 3 weeks of this process, especially since I'm bringing C-Suite experience, PR skills, and celebrity-influencer status on social media to bear, as well as being a verified, active news journalist, I cannot recommend interviewing with them. Technology service companies cannot afford to be disorganized or to misunderstand what level of hiring in which they're engaged. From a personal and business strategy perspective, I don't recommend engaging with this company.
