Sandstone Care Interview Questions
& Process

I applied for a Paid Media Manager role and was given a take-home case study. The instructions said I'd get a conversion funnel summary (inquiry-to-admission rates) to help measure performance against the goal of cost per admission. But, that document was never sent. The data provided only had campaign-level metrics, making it impossible to fully answer some key questions as intended. Also, some CPA and CPC numbers in the data didn't match the spend, clicks, and conversion data when I recalculated them. I tried to get clarification several times but didn't hear back before they made a decision. Considering the time it took to finish the assignment, I expected more complete information and better communication from the team. The whole thing felt messy and not like a well-organized hiring process. My advice to management: Make sure take-home assignments have all the correct data and give timely answers to candidate questions. This will improve the candidate experience and lead to better evaluations.

First, you talk to a recruiter, then the hiring manager. After that, there's an assessment. The general flow is getting to know the company, then the position, and then finding out if you're a good fit for the position and the culture of the company.

I was contacted by a recruiter to start the interview process. They asked for references very early on, but then took a long time to respond after I went through the effort of scheduling and finding four people to be references. They also asked if they were looking for a dual specialty provider and I was told "no," but it seems like they are still looking for FNP/PMHNP since the job posting is still up months later. A colleague had a similar experience interviewing with them.

The company could have done some things differently. The position wasn't really entry-level because it needed graphic design skills and experience. The pay should be higher for the skills needed, like $50,000-$65,000, but even that's low. They also asked for too many references (3 supervisors and 1 other, or even 4 total) which is a lot for an "entry level" role. They asked for references after the second interview, not the first recruiter call. The interview process itself was too much: either 3 interviews without a skill assessment, or 2 interviews with one. It felt like a mismatch between the pay, the interviews, and the role. The skill assessment also needed more time; it was given Saturday morning and due Monday, which is tough if you have weekend plans. The skill assessment was way too big - they wanted a featured image and at least 10 other graphics, with strict branding rules, plus reading an article and checking other blog posts. It should have been just one featured image and 2 other graphics (3 total). The pay should also be more like freelance graphic designer rates ($30-$60+/hr), and if they keep the big skill assessment, they should pay for at least 5 hours. If they made these changes, candidates wouldn't have to put in so much time and effort for a job that doesn't pay well and isn't really entry-level. This was the most intensive interview process I've ever seen for an entry-level job, and the salary was way too low. There were several red flags, but I've offered solutions. The skill assessment was way too big and time-consuming. Not knowing Canva, Sandstone Care's branding, or blog formats made it even harder. My work wasn't respected; it would've been better to have more time or a smaller project for the skill assessment. Plus, the assessment required Canva, and not everyone has the premium version, which limits capabilities. The overall process was too much for an entry-level role, and the skill assessment was an outrageous request for such a position. They could have assessed skills with a much smaller project.