Chronicle Books Interview Questions
& Process

I had two interviews. First, one with a senior manager in the department, then another with the hiring manager and a peer team member. For the second interview, I had to create a sample campaign for a given title. Both interviews went great, everyone was nice, gave good feedback on my campaign, talked about their management styles, and said I'd hear back in a couple of weeks. But after six weeks of silence and me following up a lot, it seems like Chronicle ghosted me. This is pretty common in the job market, but I was surprised since the interviews felt so different. Hiring managers, if you want good candidates, at least respect their time and communicate!

It was a two-part interview process. First, I talked with HR. They asked typical interview questions like about my strengths and weaknesses, a time I had to problem-solve, and basically went through my resume to see if I was personable and had the experience. The second round was with the team I would be assisting. It was more of the same interview questions, but the main focus was on how well I'd fit in with the team. They asked about my qualifications and hypothetical situations, like what I'd do in a specific scenario, but a big part was just making sure we all had good rapport.

It was a half-hour phone chat, more like a conversation and fun. The interviewer liked my work but was iffy about me being out-of-state. Since they didn't have the budget to fly me in, I said I'd pay my own way because it's a dream job. We agreed that if they liked me, the next step would be a Skype interview and we'd figure out the rest after that. I didn't hear back for two weeks, so I emailed. They decided to go with someone local, telling me I'm talented and should find work easily, which felt untrue since I've been unemployed since graduating. It felt like they prioritized convenience over the best fit, but maybe they can afford to.

I was contacted for a phone interview and they told me that they'd let people know whether they'd be moving forward in the hiring process within the week. A week came and went and I received no further contact from the HR manager. While I understand not being able to get back to every applicant - I made it to the phone screen! The least a company can do at that point is say, "Thanks but no thanks."