I applied through a recruiter. The process took 4 months. I interviewed at Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (San Francisco, CA)
Interview
A Sr. recruiter reached out to me via LinkedIn about a Director position. I emailed back my interest and was excited for an opportunity to interview for the role. From the very start, the recruiter would take days or weeks to get back to me. Once she had done the initial phone screen, it took more than 6 weeks until she had scheduled my first phone interview with the role's supervisor. Another 10 days went by and I finally received feedback that they wanted to schedule me for in-person interviews with several VPs. I came into their SF office for the interviews and enjoyed speaking with the three people who interviewed me. Williams Sonoma ended up ghosting me, though, as I never heard from them again--not a postcard or an email. I put a lot of personal time and effort into all of my interactions with WS (including using a day of PTO for the on-site interviews). They strung me along for 4 months. Their Sr. recruiter was incredibly disrespectful and unprofessional with her lack of communication.
Very easy and stress free. Manager asked about culinary education and work background as well as if I had any experience with working with their products. Selling would also be a part of the job.
I applied through an employee referral. I interviewed at Williams-Sonoma, Inc.
Interview
Submitted resume with referral. Interview scheduled for three weeks out. One hour before interview (after flights booked and schedule rearranged), I received a generic email--not addressed to anyone specific--saying they would not be filling this position and were going in a different direction. Sometimes this happens and really not a big deal. But canceling 1 hr before interview after having three weeks notice, and after taking a flight, and then sending out an impersonal generic email is bad practice. Silver lining is I am glad to know this early in the process that people are not considered important to the success of the business. Would hate to find that lesson out 3 months into the role.
Director applicants have rated the interview process at Williams-Sonoma, Inc. with 2.3 out of 5 (where 5 is the highest level of difficulty) and assessed their interview experience as 50% positive. To compare, the company-average is 61.2% positive. This is according to Glassdoor user ratings.
Candidates applying for Director roles take an average of 90 days to get hired, when considering 4 user submitted interviews for this role. To compare, the hiring process at Williams-Sonoma, Inc. overall takes an average of 18 days.
Common stages of the interview process at Williams-Sonoma, Inc. as a Director according to 4 Glassdoor interviews include:
Phone interview: 33%
One on one interview: 33%
Drug test: 17%
Group panel interview: 17%
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