I replied to a recruiter's ad on a major job search engine. The interview process at Catalogs.com started out innocent enough. After speaking on the phone twice, one of the owners presented a practical HTML/Javascript assessment which took about 2-3 hours. I followed the instructions and was told during my interview that several people reviewed my code and it "looked promising". After what seemed like stalling came the face-to-face interview. First, the good: Their workspaces are in a suite of offices. The team all seem very nice at first glance. Some of the offices are equipped with incandescent lamps and the fluorescent lights are kept off. Everyone I met seemed personable. Now, the bad: There is some privacy in the offices they use, but the office this position would be in would have two people looking directly over your shoulder. Combine this with the background vibe that everyone on "the team" is wrapped around the owners' fingers and it takes on an almost sinister atmosphere. After our face-to-face meeting it slowly became clear that the owners of this business are inordinately demanding–which is fine–but they have no respect for candidates' lives or their time. One of the Catalogs.com owners continually mentioned familiarizing myself with a technology I had no exposure to. This technology was listed in the original advertisement as "a plus", not a requirement. At first I was led to believe this familiarization would take place after starting, but after the face-to-face interview, he mentioned it would need to be completed prior to starting. He even implied it would need to be completed prior to being eligible for an offer of employment! In addition to spending my own time jumping through hoops without even a guarantee of a job afterwards, I would need to pay for the course?! I love learning new skills, but this sounds like a multi-level marketing scam or pyramid scheme. But wait, there's more! They also asked if I would learn an aging technology to perform maintenance duties which would be part of my job description. I love that none of these technologies were mentioned in the job description. That, in itself, should be a huge red flag. The owners of Catalogs.com also slowly and amorphously expanded the responsibilities of the position beyond the scope of the original ad, though expanded them to what I can't be certain. I left unsure of exactly what my responsibilities would be and what I would need to accomplish to be successful and remain employed. The only answer they could muster was that "we all wear many hats here." Another Catalogs.com owner expressed concerns that past employees had continued freelancing which interfered with their work at Catalogs.com and they were let go. When I mentioned that I would be willing to back off from any freelancing of my own, I was told that backing off would not suffice. They want you to spend your valuable time and money learning skills for them before they even make you an offer; They want you to be responsible for an ever-expanding list of jobs or chores, likely without the perk of an ever-expanding salary; And to top it all off–after practically bragging about how quickly they get rid of other employees whose freelancing interfered with their work–they want you to cease all freelancing! They want you available to them at their every whit and whim until they no longer need you, then they get to throw you to the wolves and you get to start freelancing again from scratch! In summary, they want someone all to themselves who they can push around. I would expect such demanding business owners to be meticulous and professional, but the Catalogs.com owners couldn't even keep their word and follow up promptly after our interview. They had nothing but contempt for the hiring process, my time as a candidate, or even keeping their word regarding something so minute as a return phone call. If you have any respect for yourself and your time then don't interview here because the Catalogs.com owners won't respect you or your time. They won't even call you when they go out of their way to say that they will. I wish I could tell you that I received an offer that was commensurate with the unfair and unilateral demands discussed above, but after putting me through the ringer for weeks they opted to "hire someone on a contract basis."