I should have read the Glassdoor reviews of the interview process before I interviewed, because it took an entire two months from first contact to final decision--this process isn't fast, and it's clearly not designed to be. I never once talked to a recruiter; the hiring manager reached directly out to me after I applied. The interview process was time-intensive--after an initial call, I was asked to create a work sample presentation literally pitching their product AND adding two focused programs. This is an insane request for a product that candidates haven't seen or used, and was completely unclear if they were assessing 1) my ability to create programs that fit their tool, 2) my presentation skills, 3) my ability to bring science to their coaching platform, or 4) all of the above. I understand work samples and I am usually an advocate of them, but Better Up provided minimal feedback after two different times seeing the presentation, then the last time I gave it, was told it wasn't up to par. I had to constantly prompt the hiring manager to respond to my candidacy through each stage, and it was clear that they were hiring so many individuals that the candidate experience wasn't a highlight for them. It was difficult because I really love the product, but I think I may have dodged a bullet of a too-young-startup not quite figuring things out yet.

Throughout my interview process, I can say that the culture at BetterUp is truly outstanding. Everyone I met was encouraging, smart, and very friendly. That said, I don't think they extend the same culture and high standards to dealing with their candidates. Several other people have posted about this before on Glassdoor, but their process is incredibly long, with very long delays of silence in between steps. My process involved a chat with the Hiring Manager, then a technical coding interview (with R), a 48-hour take-home assignment, a virtual onsite with 5 interviews (including a presentation of an experimental design for one of the take-home projects), and then a chat with someone on their leadership team. This process started mid-November 2021. Granted, Thanksgiving and the holidays were an obstacle in terms of scheduling, but I did not receive official word that I was not given an offer until January 30th 2022. This after having successfully passed every single round up to and including the virtual onsite, communicating with a recruiter and the Hiring Manager who throughout gave very encouraging and positive feedback, etc. My final interview (a chat with a member of the leadership team, likely the CEO) was waived due to scheduling, which I thought meant since (a) I had successfully passed all interviews up to that point, and (b) the recruiter had told me that "everyone they pushed forward to the final round they would have headcount for", would mean I would eventually get an offer. Instead, I got a short but admittedly courteous call from the Hiring Manager telling me that they were moving forward with someone else because they were unsure about my lack of prior relevant work experience in the role. This to me feels like an issue that should have been brought up before this stage, or been a cause to not even initiate an interview process with me in the first place. Most confusing of all is that the recruiter had communicated that if we got to the final round the firm allegedly had headcount for all the candidates (i.e., candidates weren't competing with one another for a limited number of roles, but rather standing on their own merits). Hence, the call communicating that they had opted for someone else was quite the blindside, let alone after all the energy and effort put into each and every step of the interview process. All-in-all, the Hiring Manager and everyone on the team was really, really nice and I can't say anything bad about them or their culture. Their mission is also truly outstanding and I'm generally a fan of their work. However, I really can't in good conscience recommend that other people embark on an interview process with BetterUp. They take an incredibly long time between steps (from first communication to rejection it took 2.5 months, again even after passing all rounds and having the final round waived, and even despite communication with the recruiter that made the offer seem impending). I've never felt more blindsided by an interview process, nor felt a greater disconnect between the mission and internal culture of a firm and the ways they carry out their recruiting process.