Applied online, recruiter set up phone screen with a manager, was then asked to complete an assignment. Was told that this should take about 3-4 hours of work. Of course, it took around 12 hours to do a really good job. The assignment was to come up with 10 companies that Stripe should target and explain your reasoning. Then take at least 3 of them and write an email to a specific person within the company and write up a detailed engagement and onboarding plan for them. The second part of the assignment was to explain a technical subject to a layman - took around 30 minutes.
The next call was to go over the assignment with a member of the team, which I was really looking forward to because I had learned a lot about the company while completing my 8 page assignment. My call was with a very unfriendly and annoyed member of the team who made it very apparent that he had not read my assignment prior to the call, nor did he have it open in front of him during the call. The call, which I assumed would be an hour long based on the amount of material we had to cover, was only 30 minutes. The call began with the team member telling me about himself and his experience (congrats on the MBA), then asking me to begin going over my assignment. As I talked through my assignment, I could tell that I had been put on mute. There was no input from the team member, and when I asked for feedback, or what he thought about a certain company or engagement strategy, he gave very short and uninformative answers. When I was getting close to the end of my assignment, he chimed in and reminded me that we only had 3 more minutes for the call and asked if I had any more questions for him. I asked for some feedback on my assignment which produced some very generic answers. I assumed that he was just very busy and didn't want to hold it against him or the company - but definitely did not get a feel for the company or give them a chance to get to know me either.
A few days later I received an email that I had been moved forward and was scheduled for another phone call with a recruiter a week later, the call lasted 11 minutes, and I was moved forward for an onsite interview another week later.
My onsite went well and I was asked some very introspective questions and felt that I was very well vetted in terms of sales ability, thinking on my feet, and general fit for culture. My only complaints were that the first woman I met with seemed very uninterested, bored, and was resting her arm on the table and using her hand to support her head for the whole interview - bad etiquette, I am judging you as much as you are judging me. I was also supposed to meet with an executive, but he was out of town, which was a bummer. Besides these details, I felt that all other members of the team that I meant were very sincere and interested in our conversations - I felt that I was a good fit with these people and very well qualified for the position in comparison to the other members of the team.
A few days later, I received an email from the recruiter saying that I was not a good fit for the position and will not be extended an offer. I was honestly very surprised with this response, but had received a better offer elsewhere and was surprised but not too disappointed.
Overall, I feel that I had essentially performed 12 hours of free labor for them and received nothing in return. It seems that everyone who communicates with anyone at Stripe has to do the same assignment and it makes me wonder how much of their lead generation is actually scraped from the dozens of applicant assignments that they receive every week. I would advise Stripe to (1) ensure that these assignments are only given to serious applicants and are reviewed during an onsite interview, and (2) to remember that applicants are judging you just as much as you are judging us - respect should flow both ways in all professional situations.