SweetRush Interview Questions
& Process

The interview process was pretty straightforward, involving 4 rounds. The first round was a screening interview, with no major surprises. The second round included the hiring manager and another manager, who were particularly interested in my previous consulting experience. Although my background included consultative work like proposal development, value propositions, and deal closing, I didn't have a named consulting firm on my resume, so they wanted to explore that further. I felt I sufficiently addressed their concerns to move to the third round. The third round required preparing and delivering a consulting/solution design for a hypothetical enterprise. They estimated this would take a 'few hours' to prep, but it actually took about five times longer when accounting for research, brainstorming, preparation, practice, and refinement. I handled it well, acknowledging the competitive market and appreciating the nominal compensation offered for the preparation. The presentation was delivered to the same two managers from the second round, plus a senior leader. Feedback indicated it went well, with comments like 'impressive,' 'well spoken,' and 'seems like a fit,' leading to advancement to the fourth round. The fourth round was a casual, one-on-one chat with the senior leader from the third round, essentially a 'get to know you' session, suggesting an offer was likely forthcoming the following week. There were no red flags. However, after about a week and a half, I was informed they 'decided to move in another direction.' My suspicion is that an offer was being prepared, but upon review by someone who hadn't interviewed me, a decision was made against it, possibly due to the prior consulting objections that had already been resolved with the initial interviewers. It was a disappointing outcome, especially considering the investment of time and effort by the hiring managers who seemed supportive.

The process was pretty straightforward and didn't drag on. First, I had a chat with HR, then an interview with the team, followed by a written assignment. Finally, I met with the co-founder. They even paid me for the test, which was a nice touch. The HR folks were super nice and easy to talk to.

A recruiter reached out about a project with SweetRush. I had a pre-consult call. The project was misrepresented in size to get a lower rate. When contracts came, the project max was cut by 75%, it included a unilateral right for SweetRush to terminate without cause, there was no guaranteed minimum hours (which we discussed), and the SOW said they'd 'try to pay within 45 days of invoice' but it wasn't guaranteed. I told them my industry standard billing practices (Net 30 from invoice with 1.5% late fee) and the need for a minimum hour commitment (for which I discounted my rate), but they refused. These are big red flags that suggest getting paid as a contractor would be tough. It's a very outdated approach and likely means they get less experienced contractors.

The whole thing took about 3 weeks. I talked with the Principal Creative Director, the design team lead, and one of the founders. It was all done over Skype. We discussed my background, my 9 years of experience, what I'm seeking in a new role, if this job could be a good fit, and my salary expectations. I also showed them some projects that weren't in my portfolio.