Received an initial communication from a "recruiter", but it was through an automated portal of some sort. About five minutes after the initial "invite", received an auto reject email for the same role. Awkward. This was on a Friday afternoon. Turns out that was a mistake on the recruiter's part, but I didn't find that out until the following Monday when I actually spoke to the guy. Odd and irritating, as I was wondering the whole weekend whether the company was actually interested in speaking to me or not.
First round was the recruiter screen. Nothing special, same run -of-the-mill description of the job, process, and a request for my salary requirements. I'll add here that the targeted salary range was VERY low for bay area standards. Recruiter claimed it was what most other candidates were asking for. I find that highly unlikely. That was pretty much the last communication I had with the recruiter.
Next round was about a week or two later with a Senior Comms Manager who would essentially be my manager. She was very nice and extremely engaged. We discussed my background and she gave me more details about the job and what the company was looking for. The call went very well and she was interested in moving me forward.
A week or so after that, I was scheduled to speak with their internal communications manager. This was where it went sour. This person was extremely matter-of-fact from the very beginning of the call, not at all engaged or interested, had an extremely flat affect, and she really wasn't interested in taking the call. I resent when people who are supposed to be representing the company waste my time and act like this with preconceived opinions of candidates before they've even begun the call. I could tell from the get-go that this would probably be the last stop in the process for me. You can just sense these things. The reasoning for that is unbeknownst to me but I was right.
Sure enough, I received a valid auto rejection a week after this video call.
Frankly, I think it's really ugly not to have the initial recruiter send a personal note, especially after three rounds with the place over the course of a month! I can understand a no-reply rejection email when you're just sending a resume, but after three 30-minute calls with 3 employees, that style of "communication", ironic as that sounds for the actual job I was applying for, is simply unacceptable and detestable. It speaks volumes to what it's actually like to work there.
You people need to realize that there's a lot of competition out there, and to put someone on the interview panel with the personality of a damp carrot followed up with a meaningless auto rejection from a no-reply address after three rounds of interviews is just wrong. Also, I have this sneaking feeling that LiveRamp might be lying to candidates about suggested salary ranges for a job like this just to keep expectations low. That's also pretty disgusting for an organization as financially sound as LiveRamp. I've never heard a recruiter mention that the salary range is based on what other candidates have asked for. No candidate in their right mind is going to lowball themselves and go into an interview without knowledge of the average bay area base salary for a manager-level position. I've interviewed for Comms Manager roles offering nearly 20-30K more than what the range for this position supposedly was.
Finally, realize that you're not the only one interviewing candidates. The candidates are interviewing you, too. You should also send that Internal Communications Manager to charm school, as she needs some personality. Don't know whether she was having an off day or what, but you don't visit that kind of cold and careless attitude over a video call with a candidate who's interested in working with you. I don't care how many other candidates are in the pipeline. Learn how to respect people's time and energy and never forget that you might be in the exact same position someday and won't appreciate being brushed off. Karma has a way of coming back to you.