Round Two - an in-person interview with three members of their staff, including VP of Engineering. Great people. Great questions. Hearty discussion and conversation regarding the landscape of icitizen, and even delved into covering things that were working as well as things that hadn't worked for them. This was a two hour interview, and I didn't mind it at all. The people were great, and I enjoyed speaking with them. I didn't mind brainstorming with this group, because they seemed to have as much enthusiasm as I did - and they all seemed like genuinely nice people.

Round Three - Asked back to meet with individuals that would be working more directly with this marketing position. Two in-person employees, and one via video conferencing. Again, all solid people with great questions. We kept this to an hour, and covered the bases throughly. We talked marketing experience. We talked audience engagement. We talked organizational development. We talked professional experience. We had fantastic conversations about what is needed from this marketing position, and ways that they were eager to work with the chosen candidate to improve marketing outreach and branding in general. We even talked about things that have changed within the company since this time last year. Left this round feeling great, and continued to feel connected to the business and work.

Round Four - an individual meeting with their Interim CEO. This was probably the most interesting interview of all five rounds, being that the CEO outlined his plan to leave icitizen within the 2018 calendar year. He further explained that he had stayed in his interim role for longer than he had planned. He interrupted me at every possible turn. One hour interview, and I'd say that he probably dominated that time by about 60%. However, he did take the time to tell me how much his team had given positive feedback regarding my previous interviews. "You've really impressed the hell out of my team, so you're off to a great start." How unfortunate to not listen to the team that ISN'T declaring their departure in 2018. Round four completed at the end of 2017, with the promise for a decision to be made in early January. I didn't mind waiting through the Holiday break. It's a busy time. But I was asked to return for a FIFTH interview with the CEO. And was provided with five questions to prepare and answer. (By the way - there was zero negative feedback from this point. Only positive remarks, even from the CEO, leading me into interview 5)

Round Five - Asked to meet at their Nashville location again with the CEO. I don't like that when I met with the CEO, no one else was present. Someone needs to evaluate this man's ability to conduct effective interviews and how to speak to potential candidates. Horrible body language. More interrupting. More asking for details regarding plans for the position without offering me the position. There's a very bold line in HR best practices regarding things that should and shouldn't be said or asked. He should review some of those best practice suggestions. I answered four of the five questions he asked me to prepare for - only to be cut off before answering the fifth, because he didn't even remember that he asked five questions. At the end of the interview, I took the time to ask him directly about any "hesitations" or "reservations" that he was having at that point - because in my experience, five interviews is ample time in determining if a candidate should continue to move on. (They should've known by the fourth interview invitation, being that four interviews is already excessive) I asked for the ability to directly address any reservations or hesitations that he was having, and was told that I addressed his concerns with the questions he sent to me for preparation. "I appreciate you taking the time to answer these questions. You did a great job." And then told me that he was considering asking me to complete a sixth, and possibly even seventh interview - with two marketing agencies currently under contract with their business, that icitizen is seeking to replace with this internal position. But after round five, I was contacted by the CEO and told that I suddenly didn't appear to have the appropriate skillset for the position, and that he had asked the Chief Administrative Officer to repost the position. But he also acknowledged that he might not find what he's looking for in that process - so that he would like to keep me under consideration for the remainder of the week so that they can prescreen more resumes. How thoughtful, right? "I don't want to hire you because I think there's someone better than you out there. But hey - if we don't find them this week, we'll consider settling on you. I'll give you a call."