The Social Element Interview Questions
& Process

I applied for the job and then the Hr reached out with the details about the role like project, client, hours, salary, and contract info. Then there was an initial interview with Hr where they asked some standard questions. After that, I had an online technical assessment and a follow-up interview with Hr.

This was a very unprofessional experience. It was supposed to be a 3-stage process that took less than a month, but it dragged on for over two months because the hiring team kept going on holidays and were too busy with pitches to respond to HR promptly, which meant a lot of chasing and following up was needed. The second stage was with the hiring manager. He used the C-word twice, not at me, but when talking about difficult clients. While I'm not offended by the word, I was shocked it was used in a professional setting, especially by a man. I mentioned this in the feedback meeting (which was a virtual face-to-face, which I appreciated instead of just an email or call), and he said it's their 'favourite word' so he 'didn't think about it', making me question the company culture. The final stage involved a personality moodboard task and a showcase of work I'm proud of. This was a better task than creating entire strategies or campaigns for free, but the interview itself was so unprofessional and disrespectful. One interviewer was 10 minutes late and seemed disengaged the entire time, making it uncomfortable. Another left 15 minutes early for another appointment. It was disappointing they couldn't spare an hour for a final stage interview. After the interview, communication with HR was messy and confusing. The hiring manager went on holiday again for a week, leaving me in limbo. HR suggested I probably didn't get the job because they fast-tracked a last-minute candidate but told me 'you never know' until the hiring manager returned, which felt like unfair false hope. Not an experience I'd want to repeat.

I was contacted by a very nice Talent Acquisition Specialist. After I said I was still interested, I had to complete an assessment with 3 multiple choice questions and 2 written responses. It wasn't too hard and was actually pretty enjoyable. Then, I moved on to the first interview where I talked with the Talent Acquisition Specialist and the Senior Talent and Recruitment Manager. They were both really friendly and asked me questions about my skills and how they fit the role, focusing on situations and competencies. The interview lasted about an hour. A few days later, the Senior Talent and Recruitment Manager let me know that even though they liked me, I wouldn't be advancing to the final interview stage. I was pretty bummed because the company and the people seemed really genuine and supportive. Overall, the interview experience was good. They take their time to get to know you and even give feedback, which is uncommon these days! I would have loved the chance to work there.

The interview process was spread over two weeks. It started with email communication and then moved to a Skype interview. The interview itself was quite straightforward, especially compared to the assessment given beforehand, which was much tougher. You needed to get at least 16 questions right on the assessment; if you were even one short, it was game over. I managed to get 17, so I was fortunate.