I am not *waiting*, I am continuing to apply, but it's a startup that is on the top of " want to work there" list.

Applied early October, 40 days to contact me for phone screen. 1 week after phone screen for on site interview ( Dec. 14). Had to write a follow-up, asked me to do personality/critical thinking assessment 1/9.

I know someone who applied in AUG for a different position w same company. She was asked to do assessment this past Friday.

Bad sign? Lots of bureaucracy within this company or super inefficient and slow?

1/22/2019 6:37:40 PM

It's not a good sign

1/22/2019 7:11:44 PM

they're just keeping feelers alive for when they actually need people, they're in no hurry

1/22/2019 8:23:11 PM

1/22/2019 9:35:44 PM

I realize this thread is about those who have waited a long time for a job offer.... which I have not. Hear me out, maybe I can offer some insight.

I am in outside sales, which is currently salary+commission, but will move into straight commission starting at the beginning of July 2010. I have been in this position since July 2009. I have competition from several direct manufacturing sales reps, large distributors, and local distributors. Here are the advantages and disadvantages of each:

Direct Advantages: Immediate knowledge of new technology, no middle man mark up, one shipping bill (paid by manufacturer or buyer of goods), access to larger range of non-commodity items, control inventory, have access to many distributors that can effectively sell their goods which increases market share, and set prices of commodity they manufacture.

Direct disadvantages: Typically have 1-3 sales reps per region (i.e. southeast, mid-atlantic, northeast, etc.) limiting the number of accounts they can successfully manage/cold-call, lack physical customer service or physical technical service available to or affordable for smaller users or altogether, are sometimes not trustworthy because they will go in behind their distributors that sell their commodity to one account in large quantities (i.e. they missed a big account, and have found out about it through a distributor selling their particular product) which leads to the distributor not selling their product anymore, have too many distributors selling the product ultimately driving the set price down through deviations, possibly rely on distributors to actually sell the product, and competition from other direct sources.

Large distributor advantages: have access to other commodities that go hand in hand with other manufacturers (poor example- grocery stores sell milk as well as cereal), get direct pricing, many locations regionally or nationally easing the shipping burden of buyers with multiple locations, personal service either customer or technical, many sales reps that are able to cover a broader territory, access to multiple manufacturers of the same commodity allowing to keep prices in check, service programs that smaller companies can't offer and direct providers can't match in price or value, and experts of many many commodities as opposed to one or a few.

Large distributor disadvantages: smaller local distributors creating price wars (think Michael Scott Paper Co vs Dunder-Mifflin), direct mfg's going in behind and stealing business, limited access to all of the mfg's (you won't find Harris Teeter name brands in Food Lion and visa versa), can't truly set prices because it's based on both supply and demand, territory management, and tough growth prospects in slower economies (this is true for direct as well really)

Local distributor advantages: Typically a good ol' boy setting where the seller and the buyer know each other for years (this does happen at all levels, but mostly at the local level), local folks are right down the street and can be used in emergencies, if the local guy buys at high enough volumes then there is no shipping charge to the end user, and access to both direct mfg's and large distributors.

Local distributor disadvantages: easily beaten in price, array of commodities, array of technology, lack of trained staff, low cash flow, etc etc etc.

This is what I have noticed in my six months, I am sure there are plenty more that need mentioning. The way I am setting myself apart as a sales person is this: I go after the big accounts right now while I am new. The big accounts, if I land them, will take care of me while I am new and building a customer base. The money made off of those allows me to focus free time on smaller accounts that get me higher margins. I build up big accounts, I would like to have 5-10 of these, then get 20-30 medium accounts. If I lose 1 or 2 big accounts, the 20-30 medium accounts keep me afloat while I go after new big accounts. I don't really waste time on small accounts simply because they basically pay for breakfast or something really small.

I will say this, if you can't get a big account in the first 6-8 months (assuming you have cash flow that you can ride this long) you could be in a world of trouble. If you can get one, it will really make going after the others a lot more enjoyable and less stressful. It's simply just very exhausting wasting any time on anything other than big accounts in the very beginning. You work just as hard on the medium sized accounts and see 1/3 to 1/36 of the money in my situation.

If you have any other questions, you can PM me. I hope this helps in the slightest!

1/23/2019 12:35:02 AM

for my current position, i interviewed mid-february and received an official offer letter june 20th (this was in 2016; the director called me mid-june with an informal offer)

but i work for a large very bureaucratic international organization and was warned at my interview that the process would probably take awhile, so not sure how this translates to a startup

1/23/2019 4:53:31 AM

My current position was posted online 3/20/2017. I applied for it on 5/28/2017 and the closing date was 7/6/17. I got a phone call, then a phone interview, and then an onsite interview. I finally got a conditional offer in mid November but had to wait for Board of Governors approval, which happened at the next board meeting in middle December. I started in January 2018. It took them almost ten months to fill the damn position, but my time was "only" eight months. But again, this was a UNC system position so HR can be painfully slow.

1/23/2019 6:57:11 AM

for a startup it's a bad sign. you're doing 1 of 2 things as a startup, either trying to grow as quickly as possible to maintain a lead in innovation over the market or you're trying to trim as much fat as possible to extend your runway or potentially look better to investors for another funding round (delusion of options) or for a sale. Sounds like they're in flux and are flirting with if they actually need your role, which would make me think they're doing the latter.

what's their crunchbase?

1/23/2019 7:20:07 AM

Closed series C with a total of almost 100M in funding. About 10 investors. Have more than a dozen roles opening ranging from PhD level to BS/MS positions.

The assessment is new to me, never had to do one for a job. But apparently more common than I thought. I did some homework before the tests. You better believe these candidates are gaming it. It is in your best interest not to. It's hard to convince me the validity of these test especially if you just do a Google search there are plenty of sites giving you advice on how to "pass" the personality section. The critical thinking sections too, if you do enough practice questions and recognize the types and patterns of questions you can pass too. So, yeah hard to believe they will predict success of candidates. That was the standard corporate speak, to assess 'culture fit' and future development of candidates in the roles.


Sorry for run ons.

1/23/2019 8:40:20 AM

60-90 days I don't think is unusual for a large company. Many times they have requirements (especially if they operate in the EU) for how long or how many applications need to be received to help ensure no ones rights are being violated (protected classes for vets, disabled, etc.)

For a startup, though... I would agree with BigMan157. They're stringing you along waiting on cashflow (VC money, sales, etc.) But... startups usually offer above-market rates. It's a trade.

1/23/2019 9:27:28 AM

Spoke to one of my references yesterday and he said the platform lead and team lead (phone conference) called him last Wednesday

1/24/2019 8:17:33 AM

I hate those assessments/personality tests if for no other reason than the fact that every job interview that I've been to that required it, I was not offered that job

For interviews/application process that don't require them, I seem to get a job offer on about 30-40% of the interviews I've been to.

1/25/2019 5:03:50 PM

Yeah it could go either way for me. Maybe they will use it for very similar candidates as a tie breaker.

1/25/2019 6:39:54 PM

I had a role for a VP position with another company come up in July and part of what they wanted was one of those tests. There was an intelligence battery and a personality quiz. They were all over me until I took the personality quiz and then I never heard from them again.

They wanted someone who would be very aggressive and a go getter, which I can be, but I'm also a negotiator and influencer. I think those surveys paint too black and white of personality traits that are gray and situational.

1/28/2019 10:03:28 AM

^Yea I interviewed at UNC Health Care a couple years ago and they did that shit. It was really weird and I was not a fan. I never heard anything back after I did the interview/personality test thing which was a bit awkward because I worked with their department from the university side. I later found out a former coworker and friend of mine got the position so I was happy I lost out to somebody else who knew the system over there as well. He fucking hated the job though and said the boss was a complete asshole to him and treated him like a small child. He just got another job and left that after around two years. Meanwhile I got a management position on UNC system side so I kept all of my benefits, time off, etc and am making 75% more than I was before, so I think it worked out in the long run.

1/28/2019 10:36:22 AM

I got an auto reject reply today Oh well I guess I didn't fit their culture. Everything looked great on paper. I guess I won't ever know what the *human* element is...

I may request copy of my assessment or just move on. Curious how I did on the assessments though.

Yeah so, basically avoid companies that give tests? haha

^ It just wasn't meant to be for you! I am going with that too. Maybe it is for the best, imagine having to work there and fitting in to some kind of 'culture' they want to cultivate.

[Edited on January 28, 2019 at 6:42 PM. Reason : ...]

[Edited on January 28, 2019 at 6:44 PM. Reason : .]

1/28/2019 6:40:54 PM

^At the time I was a bit crushed but I wasn't super surprised as the manager had a reputation for talking up jobs to coworkers and then never making them happen. I had thought I would be a shoo-in as the hiring manager was the one that approached me for the position and made it seem like a foregone conclusion. I'd been running a similar system to them for several years and had been working with their system as well. I later found out the manager had unknowingly pitted me against my former coworker and there was a bit of politics involved.

All I know is the culture at least in their IT department can be pretty toxic. Oh and be thankful you got at least that auto rejection. The position I was going for never even told me that they'd hired anybody else, no phone calls, no emails, no automatic response, nothing. The hiring manager didn't speak to me for three months and the next time he saw me after that he acted like everything was cool and that whole promising me a job thing never fucking happened.

Definitely was a blessing in disguise that I didn't get that!

1/28/2019 8:09:13 PM

^^ so sorry acraw

hope you find a better one quickly!

1/28/2019 10:18:19 PM

It's cool. On the upside, I have a job right now while looking

1/28/2019 10:56:17 PM