I applied online. The process took 6 weeks. I interviewed at Electric Era
Interview
What a weird process. For what is essentially an entry-level position, I was asked to do five one-on-one interviews and prepare a one-hour presentation for a panel. The last interview was with the CEO, whose job it seems is to break you down. After giving an otherwise sufficient answer on why I wanted to work at a startup, he kept pressing and wanted to get into my psyche. He also wanted me to replicate a technical analysis on the spot, without prior preparation.
I've interviewed for many jobs over the years, and this was by far one of the weirdest. Aside from the intense CEO, the one-hour presentation is a wild ask and almost feels like a ploy to get free webinars from candidates. This position was advertised on their website for approximately six months, which tracks.
I applied through other source. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Electric Era (Seattle, WA) in May 2025
Interview
Combined interview time was 5 hours: 2 half-hour interviews with people on the team, an hour-long presentation to a panel on a topic of my choosing, and 4 separate one-on-ones with people outside the team. On top of this, I was given essentially a homework assignment to write a 1-pg mock grant application to assess my writing skills.
During this process, I was told several times that I would likely be given the role, including by the Chief Rev. Officer himself. However, I had one last one-on-one with the company CEO, who asked me questions that I believe are unlawful: he questioned my citizenship status (not my work eligibility, my actual citizenship status) and prodded which country my parents were from even when I tried skirting around those questions. He was also just an incredibly weird vibe outside of that tbh.
Regardless, for reasons I’m sure were *completely* unrelated to my interaction with the CEO, I was ghosted after 5+ hours of interview time :) It’s always a great feeling to have to follow up with the team to get a formal rejection sans feedback.
I was asked to complete a coding challenge as part of the interview process. While the coding task itself was manageable, the requirements also included preparing detailed documentation such as a user guide and an overview of the code, which took several days of focused effort to complete. Despite investing significant time and submitting everything as requested, I never received any follow-up, acknowledgment, or even a simple thank-you from the company. This lack of basic communication and appreciation made it one of the most disappointing and unprofessional interview experiences I’ve had.
