Werk interview questions

Began with an initial phone interview and then came in a few days later for an initial review of portfolio and design experience process. After that I was assigned a "design challenge" to redesign several assets - this was presented as a 4 hour or so challenge which was accurate. After that I was asked to come in and meet with several team members and also present my design work. I met with 4 employees including the co-founder, and then presented my work to a couple employees after that. The process itself was fine, everyone was really nice and informative. However, I generally disagree with design challenges. The purpose of a design portfolio is to showcase your abilities, style, and process. I don't think it's overall very fair to ask for 4 hours of free work when the process is already several steps long as interviewing for jobs is already a sizable time commitment. Following the final step of meeting the team and presenting my work I sent a thank you email to team members and was told I would be contacted soon regarding references and that they needed a bit more time to manage the pipeline. This is where I became disappointed in the way things were handled. I let them know that I had another freelance opportunity on the table that I needed to confirm sooner than later. From that thank you email response to the day I received my rejection email just under a month of time had passed. I was informed that I was the first person interviewed so it was hard for them to move quickly. I contacted them two times following my first thank you email, each time reminding them of my other opportunity. I did my best to be patient (I was looking for something full-time rather than freelance so I was trying to hold out as long as I could). In my opinion it could have been handled better. You don't string someone along for almost a month while interviewing other candidates, you remove them from the process or you make a decision if you think they're the right candidate. I ultimately lost my freelance opportunity because of this, however that is just as much my fault for not pulling the trigger sooner and making up my mind.

Despite the team being largely disorganized and not communicating with one another, I had a pretty positive experience during the process and thoroughly enjoyed meeting with everyone. Unfortunately, the outcome was HUGELY negative, to the point that their recruitment practices are borderline illegal and immoral. The organization blatantly violated general principles regarding candidate privacy and conducted what they called a "blind reference check". They not only contacted the references I provided, but they also went behind my back, scraping my LinkedIn and social media accounts, and contacted random people from my social circle as well as professional circle. They even contacted a girl I went to high school with and asked about me! In their rejection e-mail, they initially lied to me and stated that they went with a more experienced candidate. When I asked for what I was lacking (a legitimate question to better myself), they replied with the real truth and told me about their blind reference check process, citing that someone had dubbed me as a bully and difficult to manage. I feel like the Co-CEO thinks she has a degree in behavioral psychology, but is largely paranoid about hiring the wrong person as if her life depends on it. I don't understand how one could make a decision without more context from the candidate, but that's neither here nor there... *PLEASE NOTE*: If you've ever put your foot down or spoken up at previous position, or made decisions that resulted in constructive conflict with others at any time during your career, simply don't apply. Read on if you're interested in the "process"... PROCESS: 1) Had an initial phone screen, and was invited into the office. I met with a technical recruiter that they are retaining to vet candidates / feel them out for their technical expertise as well as ensuring their expectations align with Werks. The initial meeting seemed extremely hand-wavey and very substance-less. Nevertheless, I progressed to the next stage. 2) I was scheduled to come back in about a week and a half later, to meet with a part-time senior engineer on the team, as well as the new-ish product manager, and the Co-CEOs. Meeting with both were pretty standard, and I was them passed off to a Co-CEO and her assistant (the assistant was taking notes on her laptop the entire time, in a manner akin to a stenographer in a court). There were many behavioral questions asked about how I conducted myself, uphold myself, and deal with issues in the workplace, etc. Hindsight is 20/20, and now that I look back she was blatantly psychoanalyzing me from every angle, almost trying to find flaws in my character. Looking back on it all, it was quite bizarre. 3) A follow up shortly after from Werk asked for two references, a manager and a peer that I worked with. I provided them with the info, and waited for their reply. Another week passed, and I got reached out by the Co-CEO to come in on a Friday for 9am coffee. There was clearly a disconnect between her and her assistant: they hadn't checked my references but were calling me into the office. I thought that was strange so I called it out, and they backstepped -- I was told that they need time to check my references and will be in touch. 4) A full week after that (yes, we're now at a month), I received an initial rejection e-mail stating that they had went with someone else that had more experience. When I asked what I was lacking, they then told me the truth behind their decision. The Co-CEO stated that based on their blind reference check, and the psychoanalysis that she conducted, I'd be too hard to manage and too much of a bully to fit in, citing that I lacked humility and that I should invest in a career coach to "fix myself". Needless to say, this place is obviously flooded with paranoia and mismanagement. Applicants beware!