I was recruited to interview for a CSM role. The recruiter practically coached me before each step and told me the company was being very selective. The actual interview process was on paper normal but felt weirdly intrusive at times. First interview was followed up with calls, basically vibe checks. Got to the in person stage which required a presentation and demo — which was demanding given I had a real job to tend to. My motivation was questioned numerous times, even though I had been invited to interview and accepted and went through everything. Founders seemingly were not on the same page about what they wanted. One set up another series of interviews for me; the other cancelled them. Unprofessional and upsetting experience overall.

I interviewed back in Oct/Nov 2024 and ultimately accepted the role, but left after 3 months. There were several red flags during the interview process that I wish I’d acknowledged more at the time. The process itself was extremely long, with at least 6 stages, most of which were with the co-founders. I then met the broader team once during an onsite visit. One of the most notable parts of the process was being asked to create an onboarding presentation and conduct a mock onboarding session walking through the product. This required me to learn the entire product before starting. Initially, I was given incorrect access by one of the co-founders, so I completed the exercise based only on what I could see at the time. I had spent significant time preparing and felt confident in my delivery, but afterward I was told it was not satisfactory because I had not demonstrated parts of the product I had not been given access to. When I flagged this, she apologized, but instead of evaluating me on what I’d presented based on the access I did have, I was asked to redo the entire exercise. Additionally, after I had already invested significant time in the process, one of the co-founders asked whether I would be willing to work for several months unpaid as a “trial” period before being formally offered the role. I declined as I was already employed, and while this was understood, I found the request very unusual. Overall, while I chose to accept the role, I do wish I’d taken these signs more seriously and backed out.