Neverending interviews... Getting about tired.

[Isitameproblem]

I've already had three interviews at a startup. They want me to do 4 roles in one. I've scored: 9, 9, 7, 7 and they're worried about my technical abilities. They wanted me to score at least an 8 in all roles. So no they've decided I need another interview. I'm actually kind of fed-up. Normally, they'd assign a take-home task, but instead I've been asked to provide the answers in the spot, not necessarily knowing what POV they want the answer from. I told the recruiter if they had asked the technical questions directly or given me said task we wouldn't be in this situation. I even told him that I'm starting to get concerns as a future employee.

Originally there were 2 interviews, then 3, and now they want a 4th one.....

Aibu of starting to feel tired about the whole thing?

You just don’t need that many interviews. A quick online screening conversation to check you are a decent communicator, a proper interview with a short task to test any specific skills required, and a proper interview. I always have the task before proper interview so I can review and pick up on points I need to check then.

I mean for an 80k role I'd expect all parties to want to do their due diligence, but if they aren't sure after interview three I'd worry about their overall decision making and communication issues.

Exactly this ^

The recruiter is also not the best communicator, he always tells me of how I "failed" the interview however they keep moving me to the next step.

His "tips" haven't been the best either. For the second interview he told me to prepare for X, and I went into a rabbit hole, when it turned out maybe knowing they would be competency based I would have don't better.

Then the third round it was with a commercial guy, so he told be to try to be commercial. For better or for worse he worked at another company with a very specific use case. I did have access to it in a previous role, but nobody really used it in the way he wanted me to use it.

Plus! The role they kept mentioning had very different responsibilities to their vision (different companies give different names to similar roles, there's no set standard).

Sorry, I'm still somewhat frustrated.

I'm also a bit "butt hurt" because I'm not "good enough" I feel like they're compromising with me.

Yeah you don't necessarily want to cut your nose to spite your face, but neither do you want to have to beg for a role then start with a general feeling of 'not quite good enough'.

Also, please never use the phrase butt hurt ever again, I really hate it 😆😆😆

Honestly, the whole thing is covered in red flags. The interview process sounds like a nightmare but the bit about four roles in one sounds like the real issue to me. Don't go there. I know from bitter first hand experience that companies that do that only set you up for burn out or failure, or both. I've just come out of a toxic workplace in which I worked myself literally into the ground and I can really see the damage it's done to me and to my family. No job in the world is worth making yourself ill and when companies - especially young companies with unrealistic growth plans- do that, you won't even get so much as a thank you card yet you'll be the one picking up the pieces. Sadly, more and more companies behave that way but it's not a sustainable model for anyone.

I genuinely don't mind the 4 roles, there's enough overlap that they should overlap across all 4. However it's obvious, that as they grow I'll eventually drop one if not two of the roles.

I was chatting to someone on Reddit, and they tried to hire a very similar hybrid. The didn't find the unicorn and eventually split the role into two.

Ie: they finally realised they couldn't shaft people and try to get multiple roles filled on the cheap.

Despise these 'move fast break things' modern day sweatshop type start ups!

Is it obvious you will drop one or two of the roles ? Why would they if have you working to cover and they are paying one salary ? The majority of start ups are notoriously bad at sorting this sort of stuff out as the bosses are always too busy working on the next round of funding / next client etc. and assume everyone else - even the salaried employees - are as invested in the business as them and will put in the same crazy effort.

Constantly moving the goal posts, it's possibly a taste of what could happen if you were to get the job.

It's your choice

I've worked in many startups and don't recognise this at all. Recruitment is usually more about a chat with the Founder / CEO over coffee, meet the team and off you go.

What is the role? Has it been advertised? Does the company have funding or revenue?

TBF that's how it started!

It was advertised but it's not like the recruiter found me, I randomly found it on LI, so the recruiter has done next to zero effort.

They do have revenue, and the CEO sold his previous company to one of the big 4 tech companies.

The role is a mix of: CSM/TAM/SE/Onboarding manager/ AM - renewal manager

TAM was something completely different in my different company.

I have done a mix of all of the others at some point and I have 10 years in that industry. I just never had a proper "technical" role. (But I did do a year of physics at uni so I know I'm not an idiot).

Also, when discussing a hybrid role, there is automatically a notion of a) high expectations (someone, the 'unicorn', who can 'do it all') and b) a very broad remit across multiple areas of the business which brings with it a danger of you not only being stretched for time but also to potentially lack focus. What have they said about the resources available to support you in those multiple roles? And do they have clear KPIs? Because that's the one thing that needs to be clarified upfront: is what they want achievable and are they giving you the means to achieve it?

From what I've been told, all KPIs will be revenue related.

None of the other things were mentioned.

When I started the process I genuinely thought that as long as I was good/excellent at the main thing (which is how it was advertised) and given my knowledge on the matter, I would be golden.

There was genuinely no massive emphasis on "being technical". It could have got lost in translation, so I don't blame them.

However, I think not getting the answers that they wanted means they didn't ask the correct questions.

Startups are hard work - even without them being 4-in-1 positions!

The reason they are unable to decide is because no one person can be at 'expert' level in all 4 roles. That expectation is unreasonable. You should be careful in signing up for this,

The higher the salary, the crazier the work in startups. Also will you have 1 boss or 4? If 4, please run!

Supposedly it's 1 and a dotted line.

The recruiter is originally said I would report to the dotted line. (So there's been tons and tons of misunderstandings).

I agree with the whole thing about being unreasonable, if I've scored a 9 in two roles, and 7 in two others ones, isn't that good enough? They want 8 across the board... Well I average 8 :/

Or they have to create some weighted average.

I just feel even more aggravated by the second !

How much do you want this job - are you currently working? Is your gut feel it is the recruiter being a tool or do you also get a feeling of indecisiveness from the company when you met them for the first three interviews?

If I were in your shoes I'd go through the final interview and wait for the offer.

Then I'd negotiate hard. On Title. salary, reporting line, expectations, say you've realised the role is much bigger than advertised and you'll need to be compensated better to be able to juggle the workload. If they pay you more, go for it and do the slog so you get that stepping stone. Leave before you burn out.
If they don't pay more then clearly you are going to be exploited, so your call whether you want to sign up - but Atleast you'll do it with your eyes open.

In any case you shouldn't plan to stay more than 2 years (unless things turn out gloriously) which will help you decide if you can take the pain for 2 years.

Go with your gut. I think they are expecting perfection, for someone to be perfect for all 4 roles. It does seem like red flags to me but you know yourself if you want to go for the 4th interview or not.

If you do, make sure that this is the last interview you do for them.

I'm currently employed and I'm actually waiting for another offer of sorts (that's a completely different story but I get where they're coming from, so no beef there).

I really want(ed?) this job. It ticked so many boxes and it felt like somewhere I could grow intellectually and professionally.

I think the recruiter is mostly to blame. So much that when I told him that I was going to email the CEO directly and ask him for an agenda/topic or whatever is that I'm supposed to be discussing during the next interview he actually agreed... Which makes me think he acknowledges he's definitely an element within the miscommunication issue.

Are you the only one interviewing ? If they didn’t think you had the scores needed why are they pursuing you unless there is no one else 😐

Apparently I'm the only one! The other CVs haven't been good enough. (He shortlisted 5-6 for them).

They don't sound entirely sure of the OP as a candidate, so not sure how strong her negotiating position would be.

They sound such a mess that they're fairly likely to take that as a sign to reconsider the role completely.

Depends whether the OP wants to play it that way; my gut would be saying no to this one.

Exactly they're not sure about me. They're almost sure but not quite.

Which TO ME is the worst thing about this whole process. Will they hire me because they ended up compromising or because they're happy with me?

There's also the possibility that of we removed tb recruiter out the equation, comms would have been a lot smoother. Who knows!

The one thing I know is that if the recruiter had delivered the news in a different way, I wouldn't be as annoyed. It definitely left me feeling like I'm not good enough.

Then they are being daft. You’re their only option, you clearly can do the main role and will be good at the other roles. They are wasting your time.