The interview process included one call with the recruiter and one Zoom with the CRO. My experience is outlined below.
The recruiter initially reached out to schedule a call, which I replied to with my availability. I then waited for a reply for three days, prompting me to follow up and confirm they still wanted to talk. I got a response the next day confirming a call two days later. This call was pleasant and the questions were all pretty standard and easy. I was motivated to continue to the interview process and it seemed like a fantastic fit from that conversation.
Four business days later I hadn't heard anything back, so I shot a follow-up email to the recruiter to determine if there was an update. Two more days passed and I received confirmation that I was moving to the next phase. I submitted my availability, which was met a few hours later with a scheduled meeting with the CRO for the following week.
Fast-forward to my interview with the CRO, he did not show up. I reached out to the recruiter 7 minutes into the call, to which they almost immediately replied to reschedule, which I also immediately replied to in agreeance. Two days go by with no update, so I emailed the recruiter asking if they needed additional availability, to which I received a quick response asking for my availability. I submitted more of my availability and received a confirmation of the rescheduled call for the following week.
8 days later, my interview with the CRO finally arrived. It was the laziest interview I’ve ever experienced. Not a single question was asked about my actual professional experience. They only cared about how I’ve been generating income as an unemployed job seeker and seemed concerned when I said I do advising/consulting mostly for free right now. He finally asked one basic question about my field of work, which I answered. He remarked something along the lines of “Ya, I mostly agree with that”, and then turned it over to me for questions 10 minutes into a 30-minute phone call. I asked about 4-5 minutes worth of questions hoping to spur a conversation, but he abruptly started to explain the next steps, thanked me for my time, and said goodbye.
A few comments on this whole experience that I hope HR leadership at Pacaso takes action against:
First, communication could be better. I understand that not every email can receive same-day turnaround, but to have to wait 2-4 days for a reply to schedule a call, or to be no-showed by the hiring manager with zero remorse from them is a terrible look. If the job market wasn't so abysmal right now, I would’ve shot down any attempt to reconcile.
Second, it was clear as day that I was never truly being considered for this role by the CRO. I'd be surprised if he even looked at my resume once before the call (at one point he commented on my experience in "People Ops", which has no relation to the role and is never mentioned in my resume..?...). I don’t know why I wasn't being taken seriously, I honestly don’t care at this point. What I do care about is the fact that I put in a good 20 hours of my time researching and preparing for my interview with them (alongside many other interviews I am doing). More importantly, I reached out to industry connections and used their [extremely valuable] time to help prepare for this. All of that effort was a waste.
Third, there seemed to be zero humility from the CRO regarding his no-show from the first call. To completely ignore that shows a clear lack of emotional intelligence on his part. Even if he honestly forgot about the no-show, that in itself is telling of someone's character.
Ultimately, I’m thankful that I’ve likely dodged having to be cannon fodder working on the CRO’s team. I just really wish I hadn’t wasted an immense amount of time and resources to find out. If you're interviewing with this company, be vigilant. If you see a plethora of red flags like I did, don't ignore them and direct your efforts elsewhere.