The recruiter I spoke with in the first round was a genuine highlight of this experience. She was warm, clearly knowledgeable about the role and the company, and asked thoughtful questions that made it feel like a real conversation. She set a positive tone and made me optimistic about moving forward with Valence. The follow-up interview was a different experience. The interviewer didn’t introduce themselves, launched into 20 minutes of rapid-fire questions with little room for dialogue, and left the call a few minutes early to grab lunch before their next meeting. I applied to work at Valence because I was genuinely interested in the company and the work they do, and the recruiter reinforced that feeling. The second interview, however, did not, and left me wondering whether Valence practices what it sells. Advice to Management: Invest in interviewer calibration the same way you invest in your product. Candidates notice the gap.

I had six rounds of interviews, including one case study. The two latter interviews were more informal conversations but prior to receiving an offer. There was a recruiter screen, then behavioral interview with head of client success and a founding partner, a case study with the same founding partner and then a follow up interview with another founding partner focused on sales. The two conversations after those interviews were then with the head of HR and my direct boss in client success who I normally would have met earlier but who was on vacation at the time