The initial stages of this process were actually some of the best I’ve experienced. I applied for a Support Engineering role, took a few aptitude tests and cognitive reasoning exams or something along those lines. I took those ( I scored somewhere between the top score and the bottom score, so that is cool) and was then contacted by Erin, the Talent Acquisition Partner, who scheduled an interview with Adam, the Director of Support.
Adam was professional, fair, and ran a great role-play interview. Even after I wasn't the right technical fit for that specific role, he was incredibly encouraging and indicated if I did not get hired for that role, then “someone should be hiring me real soon,” which I thought was an incredibly kind thing to say.
A week-ish later, Erin called me and informed me that I had not won the position. In this day and age, that is unheard of, usually you just get a good ol’ fashion ghost'n. I thanked her for going a little above and beyond and how that had a positive impact, even if it was not good news. Now I know! No more waiting. I will take the experiences learned and put them in my back pocket for future reference. On to the next one!
Or so I thought…
About a month later, Erin called me and said that they had been talking about me around the office and were wondering if I was still in the job market. I was! Excellent! A second chance!
“Well,” she explained, “this is not for a technical role exactly but we are still talking about the same salary range as the Support Role.” And that was fine by me!
“What is the role?” I asked
“Well, it is for people that don’t fit into any of our existing roles but that we think that you might be able to help the company grow, working with the CEO directly. We are working on the details but let me send you the general application job description.” It does not, at all, give a concrete description of anything really. Also, keep in mind, I never actually applied for this (that I remember, but I could be incorrect on that).
For two months, the recruiter (Erin) stayed in touch weekly. She was transparent, kind, and professional—a total rarity in today’s job market. I was genuinely excited to join a company that seemed to value people this much.
Then she was able to say “I have an update!” We want you to have an interview with the CEO!” Heck yeah, I am genuinely excited!
The CEO Interview (The Red Flag): That excitement died within five minutes of meeting the CEO. Despite the "General Application" job description claiming they value "sharp thinking" and "strong judgment", the CEO displayed none of the professional courtesy shown by his team, and seemed to be looking for someone who fit his "creative" definition and not too interested in asking me anything that would even remotely (in my mind, anyway) relate to anything in the description that was sent over.
Lack of Clarity: He provided zero context for the role or what he was looking for, then became frustrated when I asked for clarification so I could provide relevant answers. I literally have no idea if they wanted someone to come in and look at hardware and how to better build or structure something for a server farm Files.com uses (I am pretty sure I could figure that out...?), if they wanted someone to research and implement the latest AI trends, or if they just needed a "yes" person. You know what he asked me? “If there were communication problems at the company what are some of the things you would do to fix that?” As a manager…? Like, communication in terms of something like “the right hand is not talking to the left hand and we are running into a lot of duplicated or contradictory work” or something like “our office phones are on the fritz, can you look into that” or “just in general, no one talks and it is creepy in the office. We need to have you install a sound system so we can pump experiment polka metal in on Weird Wednesdays.”
Dismissive Attitude: He insulted my previous employer (with a successful, tight-knit development team) simply because he hadn’t heard of them, claiming that if a company isn't a "billion-dollar business," their communication must be a failure. Which is funny when you compare the two, in terms of valuation, but that is another can of worms not worth opening right now. The best part of the matter is that my previous employer had the dev team communication LOCKED DOWN. Daily stand ups, constant Slack chatter, physically being in the office and walking over to someone’s desk to make sure you are on the same page…..they had it locked down. If that is not something you are familiar with, then I think the call is coming from inside the house!
Ad Hominem Attacks: After a brief conversation about using Jira to track bugs—a standard industry practice—he told me I wasn't "creative" and that I couldn't solve problems unless they were "laid out for me." I think he may be confused as to how problems get solved.
A-“Hey, I have a problem. I need you to solve it for me.”
B-“Ok, what is it?”
A-“I need you to solve it. I am not gonna lay it all out for you.”
B-“Ok, but what is the problem?”
A-“Just solve it”.
B-”??????”
A-”You’re not creative”
Now, he may have meant something like “It seems like if someone doesn’t tell you to fix a problem, you won’t fix it.” And if that is the case, again….what? Yeah, if I do not know about a problem, you can bet the house that I am not going to solve it. And somebody that wants me to fix it, they better tell me about it because……I won’t know about it at all ... ..because the problem was not laid out….
The other thought on this, is he meant “If you see a problem you won’t fix it unless you are told.” And if this one is it, then you did not hear a word I said.
Ego-Driven: When it became clear we weren't a match and I agreed that moving on was the right call, he seemed genuinely shocked that I wasn't begging for the opportunity.
I also want to say that I think that the interview was recorded (not 100% sure I consented to it being recorded but it may just be a given you could be recorded…? I honestly do not care that much, but the video may show me just being a crazy person. Which I probably was.
Advice to Management:
You have a world-class recruiting and support leadership team. Erin and Adam are doing the hard work of building a brand and a pipeline of talent. However, the CEO’s interview style is actively sabotaging those efforts, in my opinion, and with my little knowledge of sabotage tactics. He is the personification of the negative reviews you see on this site. If you are a professional who values mutual respect and clear communication, pay attention to the warnings about the leadership energy here. It is real.
I also, again, want to say that this was my experience and everyone has an off day. Maybe he was not in the mood. He was about 5 minutes late to our meeting and maybe that flustered him and he was not able to put his best foot forward. Maybe he saw my haircut and was immediately like “....no” and then just proceeded to kinda be a jerk for fun. I am a huge fan of comedy, and might think this was a funny skit, but… Also, he probably did like my energy.
This is just a representation of my experience today but I do want to send up the flag that roughly 75% of the reviews speak about the way this guy seems to handle his business, and I felt that I could see that peeking through…..in five minutes. But he had me summed up pretty quickly (and I think, mostly incorrectly), so maybe I did the same (75%).
Also, I may have been the jerk in the situation and I, at this moment, am unaware. I will leave it out there that my opinion is just that, an opinion. And opinions can change. People change. And, again, EVERY single person has a bad day. Sometimes multiple in a row. I am judging on a one time meeting, so keep all that in mind. I am not trying to besmirch anyone or any company, but I feel as if I would be remiss to not leave this review of this interview and this CEO.
