It was a standard interview process. I was contacted after applying online for a phone screen. The phone screen went well and I was moved to an in-person for the next week. The in-person interview made me really reconsider the organization and I was excited about their work having worked in education advocating for diversity and inclusion in learning and arts education. The interviewer who this person would report to seemed absolutely miserable and greeted me in the coldest and most unwelcoming way, which was an initial bad sign. The conversation from the start was like a tennis match (I could barely answer questions without being rushed to the next question and the interviewer looking very visibly annoyed if I didn't move on fast enough!). She appeared completely disinterested in anything I had to say which is ironic considering so much of our conversation was about creating a great candidate experience... She also emphasized a few times that the company works really long hours (so assuming very little work-life balance) and said little to nothing about the company's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives even though the job posting outlined this and in the phone screen it was stated that this was an important element of the role?? I brought up my previous experience in DEI work and it was as if I was talking to a wall. Aside from the bad candidate experience, the office itself is a gloomy closet (at the darkest corner of the hallway that seemed to go on forever!) in a drab building near Penn Station. Not a place that is at all inspiring to come to every day! Definitely a pass for me.
