Influential Interview Questions
& Process

The hiring process started off pretty quick. A recruiter reached out and within a week I had my first interview with a creator manager. They seemed pretty engaged with my answers and were positive about my candidacy, but mentioned they weren't the hiring manager and that HR would be in touch. After a few days with no word, I followed up with HR and got a quick response to schedule the next interview with an SVP. This interview was scheduled right before the holidays, which was a bit odd, but I went ahead with it. The interview with the SVP seemed okay, although they appeared disengaged at times. They also stated they weren't the hiring manager, which felt like a red flag given I was already two interviews in and hadn't met the actual hiring manager. I was told I'd hear back in the new year due to the holidays. Three weeks into January, I still hadn't heard anything despite following up with HR twice. I've never been ghosted this late in the process before. It's wild how this happens, especially now. Even though employers have more leverage currently, ignoring candidates this far along is a deliberate choice and indicates internal disorganization, possibly due to the Publicis x Influential x Captiv8 merger, with HR seeming overwhelmed. My advice is to get organized and at least send automated rejections. The company ghosts candidates, so be aware.

So after my initial chat with the hiring manager, I went through this really weird interview process. It started with a 30-min Zoom with a director, which seemed to go okay. Then, a few days later, I talked to two account managers who were super into me joining them, saying I'd be a great fit. After that, I had what they called the 'final' interview with the head of the business unit. It was super casual, like just hanging out, and the VP basically offered me the job, saying the official offer would be there by day's end or early next week. I was over the moon, ready to quit my current job after a long interview haul and turning down other offers. Luckily, I didn't. Days went by with no word, and I started to get a bad feeling. Reading Glassdoor reviews freaked me out – was I being ghosted? I tried reaching out tons of times by phone, LinkedIn, and email. Finally, a hiring manager told me the role was moving to a different client and asked if I'd do one more interview. I agreed, thinking we were back on track. But then that interview got postponed not once, not twice, but three times because of 'scheduling conflicts.' On the day of the third reschedule, the hiring manager called to say the role was on hold indefinitely. They offered me a different role, but by then, it was obvious this whole thing was a mess and totally unprofessional. If this is how they operate, I'd tell others to be careful. Expect long waits, possible ghosting, and zero clear communication.

The initial phone screen was brief, but it went well. They mainly discussed the coding challenge and outlined the interview process. After that, I received the challenge and submitted it via a pull request on GitHub as instructed. I informed them of the submission and was repeatedly told that feedback would be provided when I followed up over several weeks, but they were busy and hadn't reviewed it. After a few months, they closed the pull request without any explanation and stopped responding to emails. Their lack of follow-through and communication was unprofessional and a waste of my time.

The interview process was pretty standard. There were a few rounds of interviews, and each one was with someone who had direct knowledge of the role and would likely be a colleague. About halfway through, I realized I didn't have as much direct experience as they were looking for, so it wasn't a surprise when I was ultimately rejected. They did reject me very kindly, though, and offered me the chance to re-apply later for a less senior position. I'm bummed I didn't get the job because the benefits they mentioned were amazing and the team seemed like fun.