This was an intense interview process, which overall left me with a mostly positive impression of the company, even though I didn't get the job.
For context about my background, I have ~4 years of relevant professional experience, all of that in SaaS sales and account management. I was referred by a friend who worked at the company.
The first step was a lengthy online application that asked for things like a writing sample (they were OK with something from my college days).
I then had a half hour phone screen with the recruiter for the role. We had a very positive chat, and I appreciated that at the end of the call she was able to let me know that I'd be moving to the next stage, and I didn't have to wait for a follow up.
I then had an hour-long 1-1 zoom call with the hiring manager, which included a roleplay discovery call. In the scenario the AM had left the company suddenly, so I was a CSM going into the pre-onboarding discovery call blind and had to figure out all the details I could about the company. It went well, and I had a good conversation with the hiring manager where we evaluated the roleplay together and talked about what could have been done differently.
I got an email pretty soon thereafter inviting me to an onsite, either in NY, or at the SF HQ. I chose to fly out to SF so that I could meet more people from the team. They flew me out in JetBlue economy and put me up in a nice hotel that was so close to the office that I was able to pick up the office wifi from my room.
The new Director of Customer Success was going to be out of town for my interview, so I had a phone call with her the day before flying out. This went well, but she had only started a few weeks before the call, so it was hard to talk too many specifics about her goals for the team - so it's hard for me to say how much of a role this conversation played in the process.
There wasn't a take-home, but the on-site was *very* intense and included a presentation that required a *ton* of work, especially since my Airtable skills were practically nonexistent before starting the interview process. I greatly appreciated getting a surprise $200 amazon gift card to compensate me for the time I put into the roleplay/interview process.
For the onsite, I first had lunch with the team in the office (catered). I then went into the preseI had to create a custom Airtable base for a "new customer" and then have an "onboarding meeting" introducing the team to Airtable and the base I had created for them. I went above and beyond for the presentation, and spent 5+ hours building a base, including many views, rich blocks, and linked records. It went over very well.
I then had two 1:1 meetings, first with a CSM from the SF team who had me do a Zapier exercise, and then a Zoom call with a CSM from the NY team, who asked me more specifics about how I'd work with a larger company (in my current role, I work primarily with SMBs).
I was supposed to have another 1:1 with the hiring manager, but she was stuck due to travel, and I couldn't meet with her unfortunately.
I then wrapped up with the recruiter, and she told me the team worked quickly and they would have a decision for me soon. The interview was on a Friday, and I got an email on Tuesday letting me know they were moving forward with other candidates.
I was really disappointed and a bit surprised to hear this. I've been in sales for a while, and been on both sides of the table for interviews many times - I'm fairly competent at reading a room. From what I could tell, my sessions went well, and my friend who referred me told me she had gotten multiple slack messages from interviewers, unprompted, about how much they liked my presentation etc.
I appreciated that the recruiter was willing to get on a follow up call with me and let me know more details - she couldn't get too specific, but said that since the NY office was smaller, they were looking for CSMs with more Enterprise experience as the first hires, and to stay in touch.
Can't say one way or another how much of that was a legit reason, but it seemed believable enough to assuage my hurt feelings ;).
In all, expect an intense but fair interview process. They seemed to value my time, and little touches like the gift card go a long way.
