Axios Associate interviews, decoded.

The interview process was super smooth and easy. The recruiting team kept me in the loop about my status every step of the way. They were really quick to answer any questions I had. The whole thing took about six weeks. It included one phone screen and then four in-person interviews.

The interview process was very long, stretching over two months. It usually took weeks to get a response from the recruiter, and I often had to initiate contact myself. The process involved a recruiter phone screen, a manager interview, a take-home assessment, interviews with three peers, and then a director interview. Even after the final interview, I had to follow up again after two weeks. They informed me I was one of the top two candidates and expected to have an answer soon. I had to reach out a third time to learn they had chosen the other candidate. While all the interviewers were great, the extended timeline and poor communication from recruiting made it a frustrating experience.

So there was this initial chat with a recruiter, then I spoke with the person I'd report to directly. After that, there was a project to complete. I think there might have been one more thing after that, but then they just went totally silent. I know you can't keep everyone updated, and I've hired people myself, but seriously, if you ask someone to put in the effort for an assignment, you owe them communication. And you shouldn't be making candidates do assignments unless they're already in your top few choices. It felt like they were just putting on a show about caring about the applicant experience.