First interview was a phone screen with TA. Then met with CMO to discuss the position and my experience. Next, I went into the office and met with the marketing team. Finally met with newly hired VP of Marketing and had a stellar experience...until I got ghosted. The process went really well, and each discussion left me feeling really good about my prospect of getting hired. The VP even said that he wished 'he had another hour to talk to me' about marketing. It's been over a month and I've heard nothing back from anyone at the company after multiple attempts to get in touch. I take it that they didn't end up deciding to hire me.

I've had 2 different interview experiences with SWBC. Both were negative. The first experience left me disappointed. The second (and more recent) experience has left me utterly speechless. Let's start at the beginning, shall we? I interviewed for a content writer position in their marketing department over a year ago. I went through 3 rounds of interviews and was told that I was a top candidate. After the 3rd interview, I waited for some kind of response. Weeks later, all I heard were crickets. So I reached out - twice. And nothing. I think it was after the 3rd attempt to get some sort of feedback, I FINALLY received that dreaded automated response we all hate..."We've decided to move on with another candidate." Okay. Fair enough. So I responded to HR asking for some sort of feedback regarding my interview - a perfectly acceptable practice after being called "a top candidate". I'm sure you can guess what happened next... NOTHING. Nothing happened because SWBC's job recruiters consider "ghosting" a favorable sport. Side note: They hired someone with CONSIDERABLY less experience. But I'll save that for a future blog elsewhere. Fast forward to mid-June. I receive a call out of the blue from SWBC inviting me to interview for their content strategist position, Apparently, I had applied for this position months earlier. I don't recall, but I've also applied for 100s of positions. In a million years, I never thought I'd decline a job interview - but I did. I shared my last interview experience with the recruiter, in which she thanked me for my transparency and assured me the same things WOULD NOT happen again. Well, me being the eternal optimist - my nerves were immediately put at ease, and my "no" changed to a solid "yes". A few days later, I had my first (and only) interview with the VP of Digital and Content Marketing over MS Teams. It was a great interview with a very friendly person, and I was grateful for the opportunity to chat. Unfortunately - my hopes were quickly dashed by the deafening silence that soon followed. I sent my portfolio to the interviewer - no response. I sent a thank you email to the interviewer - no response. I sent a follow-up email to the HR recruiter and the interviewer - no response. I sent a 2nd follow-up email to the HR recruiter and the interviewer - no response. I was blindsided. Did this really just happen? AGAIN? Needless to say, if SWBC comes knocking on my door - asking if I'd be interested in interviewing for president of the company - offering me a bag of cash on the side - my answer would still be "no". Why? Simple. A company that shows that much lack of respect toward interviewers does not uphold its core values (assuming it has any values to begin with). So why would I work for a company that devalues job seekers? If I didn't get the job - then tell me! It's not rocket science, people. It's just basic, human decency.