Butler Shine Stern and Partners Interview Questions
& Process

It was a strange interview experience. I felt more uneasy than I ever have during a job interview, and that includes interviews at top companies. The office environment felt like something out of a 2000s high school movie, complete with 'mean girls'.

The interview process kicked off with two phone interviews. I was interested in two roles, and the Assistant Media Planner position was the more senior of the two. Even though I had some doubts about my experience for this role, the HR representative actually encouraged me to go for it instead of the more entry-level one. So, I applied. I was told I'd be meeting with about four people from different levels within the company. The interview seemed to go great! Everyone I met was super nice and knew their stuff. After about two hours, they asked if I could hang around a bit longer to chat with a couple more people from the department. Of course, I said yes, and had really pleasant conversations with two other women. They seemed just as excited to meet me as I was to meet them. After three and a half hours total, I left feeling really positive about the interview and the connections I felt I'd made with everyone. I sent out thank-you notes to all six people I spoke with. A few days later, I followed up with the HR rep I initially spoke with, and she said it would likely be about a week. I ended up checking in multiple times after that week passed, asking if there were any decisions made about the job. I finally got a response saying I "didn't have enough experience," which is a pretty standard excuse. While I understood it, it was also a bit frustrating since I was actually advised to apply for this job over a more junior position. I guess the lesson here is to trust your instincts.

This was such a weird, disrespectful process. It happened like 2 years ago but I still remember it. The original interviewer cancelled on me like 2-3 times, with only minutes before the interview each time. I finally interviewed with another team member, who used 25 of our 30 minutes to tell me all about their professional achievements and to imply that my background in nonprofit communications was lacking. I had time for one question, which I used to ask what they hoped this person would learn in the role. They realized they should ask me questions, and so instead turned it around and asked me the question instead. After I answered, they said, "I have to run to a meeting, and by the way, I didn't have time to look at your portfolio." Then sent me an email with ~4 detailed questions they didn't have time for in our interview. I offered a quick phone call instead, but they declined. So I wrote email responses and then just never heard back.

The process was good and thorough, perhaps with a few too many stages, but I felt like I was speaking with the appropriate individuals and had meaningful, in-depth, and candid discussions. It began with the hiring manager, followed by an HR representative. Then, I had three separate meetings focused on different disciplines. I then traveled to HQ for an in-person session where I met with the MD, the hiring manager, and had brief interactions with some other colleagues and founders.