Time Inc. Finance Manager Interview Questions
& Process

So, I interviewed with Time Inc. and man, the whole process was just horrible. I went in five times and still no offer, which is wild. First off, no phone screen, which was weird. HR just brought me in for an in-person chat, about 20-30 minutes. Then I had two more interviews, which were standard behavioral ones and pretty chill, the people were nice. After that, they wanted me to do an Excel skills test, which was the fourth visit. I really liked the team though, so I did it. But wait, there's more! They wanted me to meet with some really senior finance people before anything was finalized. That was the fifth visit, talking to three people who were way above my level for this role. A few days later, HR asked for references. I thought for sure I'd get an offer after five interviews, a skills test, and references checked. Nope. HR called a week later with a 'no thanks.' Apparently, they'd offered it to someone else who interviewed five times too. So I was just the backup the whole time. I get it, but they should have put me on hold way earlier if I wasn't a top contender. The worst part wasn't the wasted time, it was that they checked my references and acted like the whole process was normal. Checking references before the very end, like to seal an offer, is totally unethical in my book. My references were shocked too, since they'd never heard of not getting an offer after references checked out. The actual interviews were fine, but the process was unprofessional and super disrespectful.

The HR rep was helpful. I interviewed with 3 people. The process took a long time but it was completed. This is typical for a big company. It's possible things have changed since then. I'm not sure who would want to interview here now. Politics are really important and it's discouraging. It should be easy to get an interview now since I doubt people are applying anymore. Layoffs happen often, and I don't understand why they lay people off just to rehire them.

The process was very fast. HR reached out within a week after I applied online for a phone screen and then they set up the panel interviews for two days later, which included three managers and the SVP of the department. I got the offer three days after the interviews.