A recruiter reached out shortly after I submitted the application for a phone screener, which went well, then put me in touch promptly with the hiring manager for another phone screener about week later. The hiring manager sent me an edit test a couple of days later. Things started to take a downturn after the edit test stage. The hiring manager confirmed receipt right away, then went silent until I reached out about three weeks later. She apologized for the delay, and the recruiter followed up with me shortly after to schedule a series of panel interviews with various staff members the following week. The panel interviews weren't necessarily difficult, but I didn't exactly get an enthusiastic vibe from most of the interviewers. They felt rushed and perfunctory, and the interviewers came across pretty distracted and disinterested. (I know what it's like to be asked to help interview a candidate when you've got a million other things to do, and that's the vibe I was picking up from these interactions.) I was told during the final interview that I should expect to hear back within a week. I also sent a follow-up courtesy email to the recruiters the day after the final interview, which received no acknowledgement. Then it was radio silence for almost two months, during which I periodically checked my application status, until I saw it had gone inactive. Apparently I didn't even deserve the bare minimum courtesy of an auto-rejection email to alert me of this. It was not only unprofessional to string-along and ghost a candidate who's made time to interview and complete an edit test on top of other obligations (including a full-time job) -- it was super disappointing coming from a company I thought would've been run better than this. However, I do feel like I ultimately dodged a bullet by not ending up at a company that showed it had no respect for my time or effort so early on in the process.

The interview process featured simple, concise, scenario-based questions and a fair edit test tailored to the position. The HR representative and senior editor were both approachable and friendly throughout the process.