I applied online and initially received a response thanking me, and asking me to hold on for a few days while they worked through the high volume of applications they'd received. That's fine - I appreciated the heads-up. Then I received a follow-up on the Friday asking me to book a time for a first interview with HR, using Calendly to choose a time. There were plenty of options and I easily found a time that worked for me, the following Tuesday. I was impressed by the speed and simplicity of the process. The interview itself was very pleasant and congenial, with no tricky questions - it was a good opportunity for me to get to know their business, as much as them getting to know me. At the end of the interview, we started discussing salary. I had specified my salary expectations on the online form in my initial application, but the interview told me their maximum for the role would be about 8% less than my expectations. I reiterated that my minimum expectation was what I had stated on my application; the interview mentioned the stock options that would be available but I had to take the position that stock options won't pay my mortgage! (Not month-by-month, anyway) It was a shame because I had made my expectation completely clear when I applied. Since they requested an interview with me, I went into it on the assumption that my expectation was OK with them. It felt a little frustrating to then be told their maximum was significantly lower, at the very end of the interview. So we wrapped up the interview there, and I emailed a little later to confirm I didn't want to proceed. I did receive a pleasant reply, but it was a shame that the salary expectation issue hadn't been flushed out before we got as far as we did.

I only experienced the first phase of the process, in which the HR interviewer was awesome and the interview itself was straightforward and enjoyable. Unfortunately, I cannot provide any additional insights as my progress was limited to this HR interview stage.