First interview was pretty straight forward. The interviewer was a total gem. Very friendly, never rude or off-putting, would even joke around a little bit. This interview felt like an organic conversation, where we were both able to respectfully quiz each other to gauge how good of a fit it was for both parties. It was honestly one of the most enjoyable interviews I’ve ever had—not because it was “easy” (it wasn’t), but because it was just comfortable. It made me look forward to working at Verb, because I’ve witnessed in the past the positive force someone like her in that position can have on a company’s culture. But then the 2nd interview happened… The 2nd interview was with a couple other folks in leadership positions, including a C-Level “2nd in command” for the company… And boy, was it a complete 180 from the experience of the 1st interview… In the 1st interview, the interviewer took a legitimate interest in getting to know me as a person. In the 2nd interview, it was very evident early on that my interviewers had made up their minds about me before the call even started. It was like they were just going through the motions, reading a script, and trying to get the interview over with. One of them was relatively poker-faced, even if seemingly disinterested. The C-Level individual, however, had visible facial reactions to multiple things I said and often at points where I didn’t understand why the reaction was warranted. At one point, she even seemed to take offense to something I said. I was talking about the importance of customer retention in marketing and she retorted with “well WE do a GREAT job retaining customers!” I spent the days following the interview trying to contemplate why she reacted the way she did. I wasn’t trying to patronize them or tell them how to do their jobs, I was summarizing some very basic marketing concepts like any decent candidate should be doing to demonstrate knowledge in an interview. The only way I can think of for her get the interpretation she did is if she came into the interview with preconceived notions about who I am and with her mind already made up about me. The experience really didn’t sit well with me. I contemplated writing a review before I even heard back, and contemplated rejecting a job offer if it came my way. I’ve worked in—and am currently trying to escape—a toxic startup environment and didn’t want to trade one for another. I decided to wait and see what would happen… When the rejection came, they said I didn’t have enough experience… Which is silly, since I have more experience in my field than either of them have in theirs. One of them had a completely unrelated position just 2-3 years ago. Don’t get me wrong: I’m sure they do a great job, but let’s not make this about experience when it’s clearly not. I figured I would wait and see who they ended up hiring for the role before writing any review… Which, to be fair, the person they hired is someone who has a little more experience, though it is full of red flags. BUT she better fits the image of the little exclusive clique the C-Level individual is trying to create/maintain. That’s what really matters. As bitter as all this may sound, I actually feel like a dodged a bullet. I’ve been in situations before where a great HR person was doing their darndest to transform a toxic environment… But when a major source of toxicity is coming from someone firmly entrenched in a position of power, I know from experience that there’s only so much the great HR person can accomplish. I mean, even just the title of the “C-Level” individual at a 38-person company sounds like a made-up position meant to stroke the ego of someone who wasn’t satisfied by the 6 other leadership positions she held at the company. What finally prompted me to write this review is finding out that the great individual from my 1st interview is leaving. I took this as validation that all the red flags I saw were indeed red flags.