I signed up for Zappos Insider since I heard the culture was fun/quirky/cool and I was really attracted to that. Initially, I submitted a resume and answered some basic background questions and some silly questions. The other reviews give a good overview of what the silly questions are so I don't need to repeat them here. I went to an Insider event which was very entertaining (and slightly awkward - like all networking events are!) Overall, I was glad I went because it gave me a really good flavor of the culture. A few weeks later, I saw they were hiring for a Senior Financial Analyst (right up my alley) so I submitted my resume specifically for that position. A recruiter contacted me via email and asked me to fill out an online job application (a serious one) and arranged for me to take a 1-hour Excel challenge. You do this remotely and just have to email it back to them within an hour. It was very straightforward and included pivot tables, vlookup, and some basic math/analysis of a financial statement. I was notified via email that I passed the Excel test and it was time for my first phone interview with the recruiter. The phone interview started off really well. She had basic questions for me about my background and capabilities. I was very enthusiastic and used every opportunity I had to work in how much I loved Zappos' values and culture and used examples of my actions from previous jobs to show how I would contribute positively to the culture (proactively organizing happy hours, weekend getaways with big groups of co-workers, how I turned one co-worker's weird personality quirk into a strength by training him to adapt it to his advantage). The conversation went well and flowed easily. The recruiter said she wanted to bring me in to meet with the team - but - what were my salary requirements? So I told her what I made at my last job and - WOW - she said the salary for this job was 40% below that! I was flabbergasted. I had heard that Zappos pays below market and was willing to take a pay cut for this job, but that was just too much. The recruiter used a cost-of-living calculator (since I moved here from an expensive city) and was trying to sell me on how the salaries were actually equivalent because of the cheap housing cost and no income tax in Nevada. This may be true, but I am still early in my career and I didn't want to pin myself into a low salary, because I was afraid it would mean my future raises (usually given as % of current salary) would result in less money and that it would mean I couldn't earn as much in my next job either. I asked if there was room to negotiate and the recruiter flat out told me no because I was already at the highest end of the allowed range. I was super bummed but declined the follow-up interview and kept looking and found a similar position for more than what I made at my last job! Money isn't everything.... but it has to be in the right range! I hope my experience helps somebody. :)