Condé Nast Executive Assistant Interview Questions
& Process

The interview process was way too long. There were 5 interviews in total. After 2 in-person interviews, they asked for references and then ghosted me. I was left in the dark for weeks between interviews. I emailed both the hiring manager and recruiter about the position but got no response. I then checked the candidate dashboard and saw I was "No Longer In Consideration," which I already suspected. They need to do better at communicating with prospective employees. I no longer have interest in applying to any future openings with Condé Nast because this experience left a bad taste in my mouth.

I got the interview through a temp agency I'd worked with before. The recruiter set up an initial interview with a senior marketing exec. There were three interviews total. The first was a quick hello with the exec at the CN office, and I was asked back for a more thorough one. In the second interview, they told me about a new admin role in a special 'think tank' department focused on social media/tech/app development. They also asked about my previous contract role. The exec didn't share much about the position or the think tank's projects, it was all very hush-hush. I actually learned more about the amazing CN cafeteria and its food variety, which is apparently a perk. The third meeting, I met the 'think tank' team and interviewed with two senior tech developers. I showed up soaking wet and half an hour late to this last interview because of heavy rain and a subway shutdown. That was probably a dealbreaker, but we continued as a formality. I wasn't too upset though, as a friend who used to work at CN confirmed my gut feeling about the company culture. They were a creative editor there for years and said people don't get promoted, just moved around, and that there were long hours, low pay, and creative exploitation.

HR was really disorganized, I had to chase them to get any response. When I finally did, I was asked to interview. First, I met with an HR manager to make sure I wasn't completely incompetent. Then, a week later, I was called back to meet my potential boss.