I was first contacted by Sogolytics HR via LinkedIn. I responded promptly, and a call was scheduled. HR never showed up—no message, no apology. Only after I sent a curt follow-up did I get a response. That should’ve been my first red flag.
What followed was an exhausting circus: five interview rounds with four senior leaders plus a written assignment. The leaders who were fairly new to the company came across as professional and decent, but the others I spoke to seemed arrogant and full of themselves.
The CEO, in particular, was shockingly rude and demeaning in our ten-minute conversation—mocking instead of engaging, condescending instead of evaluating. That alone should have been enough for me to walk away, but I stayed on to complete the process, only to uncover more dysfunction.
A few glaring red flags:
HR never disclosed that employees are required to work on Saturdays. I only found this in online reviews and had to confront them to confirm.
For a marketing role, the CMO had no authority—a clear signal of how little the CEO trusts his own leadership team.
Micromanagement and a lack of trust run deep in the culture, leaving little space for genuine leadership or autonomy.