The Director of Experiences reached out to me via LinkedIn to recruit me to apply to the Experience Manager role at one of the Auberge properties. I was open to the opportunity and agreed to phone calls with the Director of Experiences, Director of Marketing and then had to create a case study to create two experience concepts that hit their objectives. You had to build out one of the concepts with ROS, production plan, budget, etc. after creating the case study, they had me come in to the property to meet multiple team members from the Director of Sales, the GM, Director of Food/Bev and the rest of the marketing team. The people were amazing to meet and had great personalities. After meeting in person, the Director of Experiences gave a phone call to speak about the process so far and emphasized the fit of the role to me and also that the team was excited about me. She verbally stated that I would be given an offer. Across this conversation and another conversation with the Director of marketing, they emphasized the IRL/ onsite aspect of the role however always prefaced that communication that it’s a possibility to revisit the conversation in the future if the role can work remotely one day a week once the person in the role gets accumulated and built relationships which most definitely makes sense. They extended an written offer and I countered the offer if they could meet a higher point. They called and verbally acknowledged they would increase the salary point and will send an updated offer letter. After the call, I sent an email stating my appreciation of the updated letter and mentioned the conversation we have had on the phone about the working remotely possibility down the line stating that I would like to revisit that conversation in the future as it’s a value to have that option once I get accumulated in the role especially since they communicated that it’s a possibility. The next day, I received an email saying “We appreciated getting to know you but this role seems like it’s not what you’re looking for. Best of luck with your job search.” They rescinded the offer through a one sentence email after they reached out to me for this opportunity, the process of doing a case study, meeting in person and multiple conversations. No phone call to explain why which was a complete disregard to my time and also disrespectful. After emailing back asking for a phone call, the director of experiences said I can call her and so I called and asked for clarity as I was excited about the opportunity and was ready to accept the offer. She stated “We felt it was no longer a culture fit as we would need someone who wants to be in person.” I was shocked. Not only did I emphasize previously I was more than okay to be in person and missed that in person connection but was shocked that because I asked to revisit the conversation to work remotely a day out of the week in the future led to me not being a “culture fit”. It felt like it was a slap for asking for a future conversation via email versus keeping that conversation through phone conversations. HUGE red flag. We are in the days that it’s not about culture fit but about being a culture add, and to avoid group think just to get people in your company that think the same and act the same. I also don’t believe someone who chooses to value remote work in a hybrid model (1 day a week) does not value in person connection and also doesn’t correlate to “culture fit”. Everyone should know this story before taking an opportunity here as there is a “culture” of frowning upon people advocating for themselves or asking questions, disregarding time and effort of individuals, and this outdated mindset that working remotely is tied to culture fit. Please beware and be weary. I truly hope this process isn’t the same for anyone else and believe that Auberge should have an HR professional(not just direct team members) handle the interview process. I found the process at the end very unprofessional and red flag when I heard the words “culture fit”