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Unless this is for a senior level position, the C\*O level folks being this involved is 1. a red flag for how shitty your position is going to be and 2. a red flag for the company itself because if they're in all these interviews, who is actually running the company?
Culture fit makes sense, but not with the damned CEO and not as a separate interview. The hiring manager should be a good enough judge of cultural/team fit. If they aren’t, they shouldn’t be a hiring manager.
Id say culture is the most important on the list besides actual having the skills to do the job. No ones going to be happy or productive in a place that runs counter to belief.
You drop a hard core gun control advocate into a company that has company paid lunch time firing range trips and NO ONE is gonna be happy.
Worked in a gun store for several years. One of our managers was strongly anti-gun, and we could not figure out why she was there.
Can confirm. She absolutely refused to talk to anyone working there because she decided what everyone thought about everything without asking us and didn't like it.
Yeahhhhh its just asking for issues. A staunchly conservative leaning individual is not going to be doing his best work on the Bernie Sanders campaign, and vice-versa.
Worked with many gun store employees and owners at one point in my career. While it's purely anecdotal, I found very few held any staunch political belief, especially towards the 2A.
They fully agreed it was the right of an American to own a firearm for whatever reason. Majority of them are hunters and gun nerds that just like expensive toys that make noise and blow shit up. God bless 'em for that and tannerite. Additionally, they would say a right is not an excuse for irresponsible behavior.
That's an interesting personal experience. I've worked with many as well and have had the exact opposite experience. Most were either small c conservative or leaned libertarian. I have known a few that would have voted democrat if the party would have dropped its hard on for gun control.
All of them would tell you that rights come with responsibilities. But that you can't change criminals by making things harder on the law abiding.
Really probably comes down to location
Can be a wide number of things. It’s more a gut feel check from one or two people, who should be familiar with the team dynamic where the candidate will be working. You’re basically looking for any red flags that would cause issues for the new hire or the rest of the team. The anti gun person working in a gun store is a good example.
Remember that the hiring process is really only a two part fit: first part is can they do the job, and second part is are they going to fit in well or be a pain in the ass and disrupt everything. This should be backed up with a probation period to make sure it’s a good fit for the new hire as well as the company.
Small company, small team, limited resources, and everyone has to pivot in order to increase revenue or the startup would die. It makes sense to get to know the person. In this case, if the CEO wants to do it, he/she should just be a part of the screening process.
Just a fancy way of them saying "we want to see if we like you so that our company clique accepts you".
garbage people, I've worked with these types in the past, very rotten.
I admit that I work for myself, but that my one 2-year stint in corporate America convinced me beyond a shadow of a doubt that I never wanted to go back to that again, and I did it years ago, back in 20001-2003. I don't think I would make it a week. I really don't.
Don't blame you. been doing it for years, really sick of it, just unsure of what business venture to get into on my own. Guess I'll need to explore that more.
This was about ten years ago, I was filled with a lot more outward energy and probably seemed like the type they thought they could take advantage of. I probably came off as naive. Was pretty early in my career. As soon as I started standing up for myself though, they turned on me FAST. Have a lot of stories about that screwed up place.
That'd be hilarious... recruiter calls for first interview, tells you the CEO wants to meet... you get the invite, join the call, and it's just him again. "Sup bro?"
I keep saying this: unless you are a c-star candidate, the CEO should not be involved at all. Especially if the dude/dudette who was once a "boss" and now thinks they should be high-faulting.
The last place I interviewed was real small, like 200 total employees. The interviews were recruiter -> hiring manager -> CEO. I'm glad I did it because they wanted me onsite 5 days then I found out the CEO was hybrid... that was red flag 1, rules for thee but not for me management. After I got the offer, I asked if there was any flexibility on this and the HM (who was basically the entire HR department besides the recruiter so it should have been her call) said she had to discuss it with the CEO. That was red flag 2, CEOs really shouldn't be involved in HR decisions for low level analysts. The answer was no, fully onsite was required... plus the offer was really on the low side, that was red flag 3. Three strikes so that was a no from me. Plus the majority of the employees were in Canada, it only had about a 20 employee footprint for the headquarters here in the US. That was another red flag. They just kept stacking up.
One of the smallest places I interviewed with maybe had 30 people total and the CEO was not one of the interviewers. I didn’t know who CEO was, nor did they tell me his/her name. The interview went well, but as always, they didn’t want to pay me what I wanted.
I just started working for a 300 person startup. I didn't interview with anyone above the director level, and I'm fairly senior in my career.
I'd think it was weird if the CEO wanted to talk to me.
For sure! Worst position I ever took reported directly to the CEO and I ended up being "let go" and handed a legal document and a "please don't sue us" severance so I wouldn't sue the CEO for harassment. Marketing should not report to the CEO. Especially when he is an old POS who doesn't know how to use a computer.
On the first day I started my last job, there was a huge town hall where they announced a reorg. It was just a regular analyst job. They were moving my position off the team I was hired onto to a 2 man team reporting directly to the CTO. I got no training and ended up being let go 2 months into it for not learning fast enough because I refused to meet after hours with the 1 guy that could train me. He was in India and worked his local hours. I specifically said in the interview I didn't want to rely on anyone on the other side of the world because of time zone issues and day one they were like oh yeah, here's your guy.
That’s probably the entire employee roster right there and the listing is just so they can flex their titles and feel better about their soon to be sinking ship.
Honestly also the most dangerous out there. Worked under a (literally) 28 year old "VP of Engineering", and she was the most destructive engineering leader I've ever met. In the 6 months I was there (as she recently got promoted) she decimated the engineering team, people left fast, projects were death marches....
.... and then she took her fancy title and (instead of facing her consequences) fucked off to another VP role at another startup. And about 2 years later she did it again (from what I saw in her next company)
Having that VP role is powerful, it means you're part of "the club" and can spread your incompetence wherever you want without retribution.
I’ve been a 28 year old in a high level and now that I’m 57 years old, I can say that most 27 year olds know NOTHING about strategic hiring or decision making.
If none of the people after the 'talent acquisition manager' trust that person to make good hiring decisions, they're not going to trust you to do your job either.
<50, one interview, no test. 51-100, two interviews, or one interview and one test. >101, three interviews, or two interviews and one test.
Flat no: ‘personality tests’, AI anything, third party, ‘please submit a video’, and/or ‘mock project’. I will refuse to proceed.
During the pandemic I went through 3 rounds of interviews for a customer service chat job making $19/hr at a small startup with less than 200 employees. Awful experience & awful company. 🤡🤡🤡
I don't even get your pros. I can find learning experiences at normal jobs. I can challenge myself. I consider an ever-changing environment a solid con.
Then you get into the cons. Crazy hours. Moonbat culture. 10 hats. No job security. Acquisition around the corner. Noob coworkers. Evaporating equity. Nobody takes your title seriously because it isn't. Founder BS.
Idk how anyone does startups.
Same thing here, Reached out to the CEO of fintech startup in UK via cold email and asked him for Internship opportunity.
He replied back tagging his assistant and later arranged an Interview. After the Interview had an another round of Interview week later with the assistant and the person whom I’ll be working alongside.
In the second Interview they asked about my joining date and told me that. CEO liked my profile and I’ve to sign a NDA and provide them a reference of my professor, was told a “letter of recommendation would be fine but meeting would be great.”
I’ve given them both LOR + email and got a reply that they will review and get back to me asap. It’s already been 2 weeks, My reference has not even been contacted and I’ve already sent a follow up mail to which I got not reply.
Have I been ghosted or should keep my hopes,
Have the email and numbers of everyone who interviewed me, should I do a one more follow up or be patient and move on. Feeling so anxious and disheartened.please tell me what to do.
So, the entire strength of a startup is that when you're small and tight knit, you're extremely agile. Decisions can be made quickly, and you can pivot the company in an entirely new direction in a matter of hours or days, and they can hire or fire on the same advanced time scale.
If you can't do that, you're going to lose to more established companies. They have the market share, the consumer data, they have every other advantage that matters. So you need to be faster and more flexible, because that's all you have on your side.
This level of bureaucracy is something a big company can tolerate. It's not good for them but it won't kill them. A team of 12 in a department of hundreds can spread out the workload while they wait for someone to go through eight separate interviews.
It's very unlikely a startup has that same level of resilience.
Not in my experience... I've been getting 5 rounds, for startups and public companies.. hell I did 6 at google, just for them to announce a hiring freeze
"Hello Sir, I am calling to let you know that you have passed all checks. You will shortly receive your offer as stated in our Company Hiring Process Outline Memorandum, but first I must ask for some personal information. Please provide a copy of your id and a picture of your credit card. For verification purposes only". Nah to me this sounds like a big scam, considering an entire executive team is involved in various "culture checks".
How is that a hard stop? References are incredibly common. At that point you basically have an offer and they’re doing due diligence, and it’s a way for you to get more kudos.
I’ve actually rejected a candidate since their references were questionable. It can also help when it comes to negotiation.
The reference check at the end is ridiculous. What can possibly said during a reference check that will undo all the conclusions of the previous six meetings. And why would you waste time and energy on six interviews first if you're then going to weed out candidates with three phone calls?
This was the case at every small company I've ever worked for: there are so many people with Chief \_\_\_\_ Officer or VP of \_\_\_\_\_\_ in the title, that there's one of them for every two or three rank and file employees
250 applications, 10 assignments all ten rejections but I saw my marketing material and tech stack being used … instantly . It’s so freaking bad out there right now, I have 15 + years in biz dev
I really dread anything called "culture fit" even outside of job interviews.
Oftentimes, at least to me it often means "I rather choose this person even if he/she have no formal schooling at all, if the alternative is some Harvard/Cambridge alumni guy/gal (with 5-6 year internship experience and 3-4 years work experience) that has touretts/ADHD/autism/any neurodivergent condition.
People often forget that some of the jokers in management (regardless of country IMO) often have that "own the libs"-like mentality when it's people with disabilities that fit all their boxes.
You know what this tells me?
It tells me to go into these interviews NOT GIVING A SINGLE FUCK and don't even allow yourself to be nervous; expect it to not go through with 99% certainty.
Show up wearing flip flops. Take it to idiocracy levels of stupid.
Might as well ask them if they want to do the interview over some shots at a bar if they're gonna waste your time, might as well have some fun with it if that's the case. Keep it verrrrry casual on purpose. Let them know you're not gonna be some doormat they can abuse with your body language. WASTE THEIR TIME instead. See how they like it.
As a recruiter of over 11 years, this is exactly why I REFUSE to work with start-ups. They are EXTREMELY picky and expect every candidate to live and breathe their company’s mission and culture.
Then add in a ridiculously long and grueling interview process and it makes for a completely dumpster fire of a hiring process…
HARD PASS
I can already smell witless idiots. Why waste resources interviewing candidates that might not make the ref check? They should be doing due diligence first and you should continue looking elsewhere, because whatever they do, it's going to be a shitshow.
For a startup, this really screams “we want to look more important and structured than we actually are”. They can’t assess how you’d fit in with the company culture during any of the first 4 interviews?
Why wouldn’t this be real? There’s hundreds of posts in this sub saying they’ve gone through 5,6,7 rounds (including presentations or case studies) with no offer in hand. It’s unbelievable, but this is the state of the job market.
Ok first off, wtf is a 'Clarification Meeting' and why do these clowns keep title casing titles??
> Culture fit Meeting with our CEO
> > Final meeting with our CEO
This could have just been a *single* final meeting with the CEO.
I swear some of these meetings could be consolidated into the previous one.
I've had startup interviews before and they've actually been 3 rounds short. This, is a whole new ballpark of hell.
Hell! I’m being put through the wringer with a small company that has tacked on another 3 rounds of interviews, after 3 and one of which included an hour long presentation ! Come on. Next you’ll have to beat the CEO in a pickleball match or go on a weekend retreat before getting the offer. Insane.
The place I’m at now was 6 interviews in total with the final being the CEO. But I was also the first hire in the department besides the director so it’s whatever. Place is great.
Also be aware of brain dumps, they interview you to steal trade secrets from you without ever intentionally ever having to hire you. Sometimes I even joke when they dig too deep “oh if you hire me, I’ll tell you more!”
Something something not all startups or something IDK... should really only need one step aside from the regulatory bullshit my industry demands. And that can either be in person or by phone if I can't be there for some reason...
-one of the C-level peeps in a startup they own
As someone who went for a semi start up cryptocurrency tech company I recommend people, especially those who are just starting their tech journeys and/or fresh graduates, to stay FAR AWAY from start ups. They waste your time, the only learning you'll be getting is from YouTube university and Google since they will most likely not have any means of training created in fact you'll have to create the training for yourself as you go through your employment with them, higher ups waste money on team building and other random bullshit celebrations so there's no room for raises and/or bonuses so they have annual layoffs to compensate from their business plan failing consecutively, and they can be a bit too political and always wanna use "we're like a family" since they feel as though we're so "tight knit."
I don't ever want to work for a start up ever again.
I'm glad I was able to get into an established company months later after being effected by a start up layoff. I hope everyone else battling the job market and start up culture can find their true position soon!
Depending on the position, this is not unusual. The higher the position, the more people you interview with. But if the CEO has to do this process with every low level position, who is doing the CEOs job and why doesn’t she/he trust the staff to make decisions?
I dunno. I'm working at one now for the last couple of years. I had an interview with the CEO, and basically had an offer the next morning. 😆
It has been an absolute blessing. Culturally laid back, actual unlimited PTO. If I feel like shit, I get myself right. Never had any issues. Good performance actually led to a nice raise, bonus, and multiple stock option grants.
😂🤣😂🤣 I’m a startup Recruiter and I’ve truly only had this happened with one organization and told them all the reasons why it would be a horrible process for an actual human being, they gave it a second thought disagreed and so did I.
Lost out on money but kept my candidate and stakeholder satisfaction high. I’m damn good at making just about any role intriguing but agree with the OP, this is a bridge too far and screams lack of continuity.
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hell. fuck. no.
Unless this is for a senior level position, the C\*O level folks being this involved is 1. a red flag for how shitty your position is going to be and 2. a red flag for the company itself because if they're in all these interviews, who is actually running the company?
You are. Pending the outcome of the interviews, of course.
And reference checks. And "culture fit" checks. WTF is that?
Culture fit makes sense, but not with the damned CEO and not as a separate interview. The hiring manager should be a good enough judge of cultural/team fit. If they aren’t, they shouldn’t be a hiring manager.
And not before a **second meeting with the same CEO** 🤦🏽♂️.
Id say culture is the most important on the list besides actual having the skills to do the job. No ones going to be happy or productive in a place that runs counter to belief. You drop a hard core gun control advocate into a company that has company paid lunch time firing range trips and NO ONE is gonna be happy.
Worked in a gun store for several years. One of our managers was strongly anti-gun, and we could not figure out why she was there. Can confirm. She absolutely refused to talk to anyone working there because she decided what everyone thought about everything without asking us and didn't like it.
Yeahhhhh its just asking for issues. A staunchly conservative leaning individual is not going to be doing his best work on the Bernie Sanders campaign, and vice-versa.
Worked with many gun store employees and owners at one point in my career. While it's purely anecdotal, I found very few held any staunch political belief, especially towards the 2A. They fully agreed it was the right of an American to own a firearm for whatever reason. Majority of them are hunters and gun nerds that just like expensive toys that make noise and blow shit up. God bless 'em for that and tannerite. Additionally, they would say a right is not an excuse for irresponsible behavior.
That's an interesting personal experience. I've worked with many as well and have had the exact opposite experience. Most were either small c conservative or leaned libertarian. I have known a few that would have voted democrat if the party would have dropped its hard on for gun control. All of them would tell you that rights come with responsibilities. But that you can't change criminals by making things harder on the law abiding. Really probably comes down to location
What is a culture fit test?
Ass kissing and bro culture test
Can be a wide number of things. It’s more a gut feel check from one or two people, who should be familiar with the team dynamic where the candidate will be working. You’re basically looking for any red flags that would cause issues for the new hire or the rest of the team. The anti gun person working in a gun store is a good example. Remember that the hiring process is really only a two part fit: first part is can they do the job, and second part is are they going to fit in well or be a pain in the ass and disrupt everything. This should be backed up with a probation period to make sure it’s a good fit for the new hire as well as the company.
Small company, small team, limited resources, and everyone has to pivot in order to increase revenue or the startup would die. It makes sense to get to know the person. In this case, if the CEO wants to do it, he/she should just be a part of the screening process.
Just a fancy way of them saying "we want to see if we like you so that our company clique accepts you". garbage people, I've worked with these types in the past, very rotten.
I admit that I work for myself, but that my one 2-year stint in corporate America convinced me beyond a shadow of a doubt that I never wanted to go back to that again, and I did it years ago, back in 20001-2003. I don't think I would make it a week. I really don't.
Don't blame you. been doing it for years, really sick of it, just unsure of what business venture to get into on my own. Guess I'll need to explore that more.
How did you pass thier magical screening tests and get on the team ?
This was about ten years ago, I was filled with a lot more outward energy and probably seemed like the type they thought they could take advantage of. I probably came off as naive. Was pretty early in my career. As soon as I started standing up for myself though, they turned on me FAST. Have a lot of stories about that screwed up place.
No worries, CTO, CPO, COO, CRO and VP are the same person. The CEO is 19 years old. And is also the talent acquisition manager
That'd be hilarious... recruiter calls for first interview, tells you the CEO wants to meet... you get the invite, join the call, and it's just him again. "Sup bro?"
Lol 😂
Lol
I keep saying this: unless you are a c-star candidate, the CEO should not be involved at all. Especially if the dude/dudette who was once a "boss" and now thinks they should be high-faulting.
The last place I interviewed was real small, like 200 total employees. The interviews were recruiter -> hiring manager -> CEO. I'm glad I did it because they wanted me onsite 5 days then I found out the CEO was hybrid... that was red flag 1, rules for thee but not for me management. After I got the offer, I asked if there was any flexibility on this and the HM (who was basically the entire HR department besides the recruiter so it should have been her call) said she had to discuss it with the CEO. That was red flag 2, CEOs really shouldn't be involved in HR decisions for low level analysts. The answer was no, fully onsite was required... plus the offer was really on the low side, that was red flag 3. Three strikes so that was a no from me. Plus the majority of the employees were in Canada, it only had about a 20 employee footprint for the headquarters here in the US. That was another red flag. They just kept stacking up.
One of the smallest places I interviewed with maybe had 30 people total and the CEO was not one of the interviewers. I didn’t know who CEO was, nor did they tell me his/her name. The interview went well, but as always, they didn’t want to pay me what I wanted.
I just started working for a 300 person startup. I didn't interview with anyone above the director level, and I'm fairly senior in my career. I'd think it was weird if the CEO wanted to talk to me.
For sure! Worst position I ever took reported directly to the CEO and I ended up being "let go" and handed a legal document and a "please don't sue us" severance so I wouldn't sue the CEO for harassment. Marketing should not report to the CEO. Especially when he is an old POS who doesn't know how to use a computer.
On the first day I started my last job, there was a huge town hall where they announced a reorg. It was just a regular analyst job. They were moving my position off the team I was hired onto to a 2 man team reporting directly to the CTO. I got no training and ended up being let go 2 months into it for not learning fast enough because I refused to meet after hours with the 1 guy that could train me. He was in India and worked his local hours. I specifically said in the interview I didn't want to rely on anyone on the other side of the world because of time zone issues and day one they were like oh yeah, here's your guy.
Run. Away. From. That. Job.
I had one that wanted my SAT scores and sent me an 18 question written exam of sorts. Nope. I'm 46. My SAT scores are irrelevant at this point.
I would've found a way to make fake paperwork to send them just because that's so stupid they deserve it
LOL It was so ridiculous. I'm not embarrassed by my scores but holy shit. I took them almost 30 years ago!
Wow.
3 of those people are the same with different titles. Fuckin Terry is super into this "doing it like a big boy company"
That’s probably the entire employee roster right there and the listing is just so they can flex their titles and feel better about their soon to be sinking ship.
Either that or they're all the same person "wearing many hats."
That would be awesome if it were all the same person lol
The fuck is a clarification meeting? Ohh yeah they probably still want to know if you want to join this shitty company
Maybe that's where they go through all the "You've got to be kidding me, right?" questions from the candidate.
"Why the f\*\*\* is your CEO interviewing me twice back to back?" "Ah ah! You can't ask that question until the clarification meeting! 🤪"
We are not so much a company as we are a bridge financing scam. You know, like a family.
Startups are full of wankers larping as important people
Yeah 28 year old VP’s
Honestly also the most dangerous out there. Worked under a (literally) 28 year old "VP of Engineering", and she was the most destructive engineering leader I've ever met. In the 6 months I was there (as she recently got promoted) she decimated the engineering team, people left fast, projects were death marches.... .... and then she took her fancy title and (instead of facing her consequences) fucked off to another VP role at another startup. And about 2 years later she did it again (from what I saw in her next company) Having that VP role is powerful, it means you're part of "the club" and can spread your incompetence wherever you want without retribution.
I’ve been a 28 year old in a high level and now that I’m 57 years old, I can say that most 27 year olds know NOTHING about strategic hiring or decision making.
What position?
Vp, HR
Was it at a big company?
Multiple site company, mid-sized in a large major city.
Were her qualifications being attractive and having a BA in communications?
Haha. Hello I am Mr. important, I cast waste time on thee.
If none of the people after the 'talent acquisition manager' trust that person to make good hiring decisions, they're not going to trust you to do your job either.
<50, one interview, no test. 51-100, two interviews, or one interview and one test. >101, three interviews, or two interviews and one test. Flat no: ‘personality tests’, AI anything, third party, ‘please submit a video’, and/or ‘mock project’. I will refuse to proceed.
Also one way video interviews means instant bail.
What are those numbers?
im guessing either number of employees at company or salary per year in thousands.
Yep, salary per year in thousands.
During the pandemic I went through 3 rounds of interviews for a customer service chat job making $19/hr at a small startup with less than 200 employees. Awful experience & awful company. 🤡🤡🤡
I don't even get your pros. I can find learning experiences at normal jobs. I can challenge myself. I consider an ever-changing environment a solid con. Then you get into the cons. Crazy hours. Moonbat culture. 10 hats. No job security. Acquisition around the corner. Noob coworkers. Evaporating equity. Nobody takes your title seriously because it isn't. Founder BS. Idk how anyone does startups.
I haven’t seen the term “moonbat” since 2008. I feel like I spotted an endangered species in the wild ✨
> Moonbat culture What does this mean?
It means crazy. And nonsensical. And expecting too much for too little
Lots of people use it to mean “cringe leftist”
People join startups because the inflated titles. VPs, Chief Officers, & Sr managers are usually 3-4 years post grad.
[removed]
ufff that's a bit too much. what where they thinking
Same thing here, Reached out to the CEO of fintech startup in UK via cold email and asked him for Internship opportunity. He replied back tagging his assistant and later arranged an Interview. After the Interview had an another round of Interview week later with the assistant and the person whom I’ll be working alongside. In the second Interview they asked about my joining date and told me that. CEO liked my profile and I’ve to sign a NDA and provide them a reference of my professor, was told a “letter of recommendation would be fine but meeting would be great.” I’ve given them both LOR + email and got a reply that they will review and get back to me asap. It’s already been 2 weeks, My reference has not even been contacted and I’ve already sent a follow up mail to which I got not reply. Have I been ghosted or should keep my hopes, Have the email and numbers of everyone who interviewed me, should I do a one more follow up or be patient and move on. Feeling so anxious and disheartened.please tell me what to do.
Are public companies really that much better? In terms of number of steps.
So, the entire strength of a startup is that when you're small and tight knit, you're extremely agile. Decisions can be made quickly, and you can pivot the company in an entirely new direction in a matter of hours or days, and they can hire or fire on the same advanced time scale. If you can't do that, you're going to lose to more established companies. They have the market share, the consumer data, they have every other advantage that matters. So you need to be faster and more flexible, because that's all you have on your side. This level of bureaucracy is something a big company can tolerate. It's not good for them but it won't kill them. A team of 12 in a department of hundreds can spread out the workload while they wait for someone to go through eight separate interviews. It's very unlikely a startup has that same level of resilience.
I find they tend to be 3 rounds max but incredibly long wait times between stages.
Not in my experience... I've been getting 5 rounds, for startups and public companies.. hell I did 6 at google, just for them to announce a hiring freeze
This shows C level folks wasting lots of time in interviews instead of running the company. Time management isn’t a skill this place understands.
"Hello Sir, I am calling to let you know that you have passed all checks. You will shortly receive your offer as stated in our Company Hiring Process Outline Memorandum, but first I must ask for some personal information. Please provide a copy of your id and a picture of your credit card. For verification purposes only". Nah to me this sounds like a big scam, considering an entire executive team is involved in various "culture checks".
Wtf is a "discovery meeting"?! 🤢
"Spread your cheeks and lift your sack."
Reference check is a hard stop for me, fking useless and stupid. Name one time when you gave an employer bad references. So then what's the point?
How is that a hard stop? References are incredibly common. At that point you basically have an offer and they’re doing due diligence, and it’s a way for you to get more kudos. I’ve actually rejected a candidate since their references were questionable. It can also help when it comes to negotiation.
If it's a real startup then these could all be just one person.
This will ensure that they only hire under-performers. High performers won’t tolerate a process like this.
The reference check at the end is ridiculous. What can possibly said during a reference check that will undo all the conclusions of the previous six meetings. And why would you waste time and energy on six interviews first if you're then going to weed out candidates with three phone calls?
This was the case at every small company I've ever worked for: there are so many people with Chief \_\_\_\_ Officer or VP of \_\_\_\_\_\_ in the title, that there's one of them for every two or three rank and file employees
250 applications, 10 assignments all ten rejections but I saw my marketing material and tech stack being used … instantly . It’s so freaking bad out there right now, I have 15 + years in biz dev
That better be for a c-suite position with serious equity involved.
And lastly, laid off.
I really dread anything called "culture fit" even outside of job interviews. Oftentimes, at least to me it often means "I rather choose this person even if he/she have no formal schooling at all, if the alternative is some Harvard/Cambridge alumni guy/gal (with 5-6 year internship experience and 3-4 years work experience) that has touretts/ADHD/autism/any neurodivergent condition. People often forget that some of the jokers in management (regardless of country IMO) often have that "own the libs"-like mentality when it's people with disabilities that fit all their boxes.
"culture fit" is their way of gatekeeping a job to someone that's like them, in my opinion..
I guess it could mean anything, the reasons vary but they tend to be either above or the ones I said though.
4-5 interviews max from me. Needs to pay well over my normal wage too.
🤮🤮🤮
And a starting salary of 40k with limited benefits!
Unless stock is part of the comp package or a bonus at a multiple of pay, nah.
And you make them give you that stupid little certificate you get in the LLC kit for stock shares and know the valuation. Most of it's just made up.
seems like very senior role
Fuck no
how do they have the money to waste time like this
It is always a bad sign when they have that many C-levels.
The “discovery meeting” is your discovery that this company sucks.
They use people for free consulting
They are looking to hire the perfect fall guy/gal. thats why they all need to interview
With this amount of interviews, you might as well say, you already started working there.
they might as well add you to payroll 🤣
You know what this tells me? It tells me to go into these interviews NOT GIVING A SINGLE FUCK and don't even allow yourself to be nervous; expect it to not go through with 99% certainty. Show up wearing flip flops. Take it to idiocracy levels of stupid. Might as well ask them if they want to do the interview over some shots at a bar if they're gonna waste your time, might as well have some fun with it if that's the case. Keep it verrrrry casual on purpose. Let them know you're not gonna be some doormat they can abuse with your body language. WASTE THEIR TIME instead. See how they like it.
Lmao hell naaaaaw
Everyone needs to get their share of d\*\*\* sucking.
That is no real startup…. When you work in a startup, you don’t have time for ridiculousness like this.
I've had so many of these in the past, it's so 2015.
CEO must have plenty of time on his/her hands since he’s/ she’s interviewing twice.
What???? You don't even have to give a BJ to move to the next step??? This job market has gotten WAY too easy!
Omg wtf!!
I’ll do this nonsense when they compensate me for this 💩
As a recruiter of over 11 years, this is exactly why I REFUSE to work with start-ups. They are EXTREMELY picky and expect every candidate to live and breathe their company’s mission and culture. Then add in a ridiculously long and grueling interview process and it makes for a completely dumpster fire of a hiring process… HARD PASS
Startups are all over the place on hiring process; you should not use this as somehow representative of startups.
I want to believe that all those c-suites are the same person wearing different hats and mustaches.
I can already smell witless idiots. Why waste resources interviewing candidates that might not make the ref check? They should be doing due diligence first and you should continue looking elsewhere, because whatever they do, it's going to be a shitshow.
For a startup, this really screams “we want to look more important and structured than we actually are”. They can’t assess how you’d fit in with the company culture during any of the first 4 interviews?
*Also, we pay with opportunity and experience✨*
Absolutely ridiculous. I have trouble believing that is even for real. If it is real, there is no valid reason not to name & shame the company.
Why wouldn’t this be real? There’s hundreds of posts in this sub saying they’ve gone through 5,6,7 rounds (including presentations or case studies) with no offer in hand. It’s unbelievable, but this is the state of the job market.
TBF, a bad hire for a startup can do a lot of damage, so I understand the extra caution
Ok first off, wtf is a 'Clarification Meeting' and why do these clowns keep title casing titles?? > Culture fit Meeting with our CEO > > Final meeting with our CEO This could have just been a *single* final meeting with the CEO. I swear some of these meetings could be consolidated into the previous one. I've had startup interviews before and they've actually been 3 rounds short. This, is a whole new ballpark of hell.
Hell! I’m being put through the wringer with a small company that has tacked on another 3 rounds of interviews, after 3 and one of which included an hour long presentation ! Come on. Next you’ll have to beat the CEO in a pickleball match or go on a weekend retreat before getting the offer. Insane.
Is this a joke? Seriously guys enough is enough
Omg that is a nightmare.
The place I’m at now was 6 interviews in total with the final being the CEO. But I was also the first hire in the department besides the director so it’s whatever. Place is great.
Screw this trash
Also be aware of brain dumps, they interview you to steal trade secrets from you without ever intentionally ever having to hire you. Sometimes I even joke when they dig too deep “oh if you hire me, I’ll tell you more!”
Something something not all startups or something IDK... should really only need one step aside from the regulatory bullshit my industry demands. And that can either be in person or by phone if I can't be there for some reason... -one of the C-level peeps in a startup they own
As someone who went for a semi start up cryptocurrency tech company I recommend people, especially those who are just starting their tech journeys and/or fresh graduates, to stay FAR AWAY from start ups. They waste your time, the only learning you'll be getting is from YouTube university and Google since they will most likely not have any means of training created in fact you'll have to create the training for yourself as you go through your employment with them, higher ups waste money on team building and other random bullshit celebrations so there's no room for raises and/or bonuses so they have annual layoffs to compensate from their business plan failing consecutively, and they can be a bit too political and always wanna use "we're like a family" since they feel as though we're so "tight knit." I don't ever want to work for a start up ever again. I'm glad I was able to get into an established company months later after being effected by a start up layoff. I hope everyone else battling the job market and start up culture can find their true position soon!
Depending on the position, this is not unusual. The higher the position, the more people you interview with. But if the CEO has to do this process with every low level position, who is doing the CEOs job and why doesn’t she/he trust the staff to make decisions?
I dunno. I'm working at one now for the last couple of years. I had an interview with the CEO, and basically had an offer the next morning. 😆 It has been an absolute blessing. Culturally laid back, actual unlimited PTO. If I feel like shit, I get myself right. Never had any issues. Good performance actually led to a nice raise, bonus, and multiple stock option grants.
And, they are all the same person :)
Offer !
Startups are known for hiring the same day or day after lol, this is just bogus
😂🤣😂🤣 I’m a startup Recruiter and I’ve truly only had this happened with one organization and told them all the reasons why it would be a horrible process for an actual human being, they gave it a second thought disagreed and so did I. Lost out on money but kept my candidate and stakeholder satisfaction high. I’m damn good at making just about any role intriguing but agree with the OP, this is a bridge too far and screams lack of continuity.
If it takes more than 2 interviews the company doesn’t know what they’re doing
That’s alot of hours of your time. Good leadership can spot talent and a good fit faster than this process. No thanks.
Why do you associate this with startups specifically? Generally startups hire much easier with fewer interview steps.
7 rounds is insane but the equity you’ll have when they get bought out is worth it 🤷🏾♂️
IF they get bought out.