I had five interviews with various team members throughout the process, including the creative director, project managers, and others I would potentially be working with. Everyone I spoke to was friendly and easy to talk to.
The process began with the hiring manager, who outlined the job expectations and gave me a helpful overview of the role. One of the steps included a live technical task via video, where I was asked to explain how I would solve a problem on the spot. I found this part of the process a bit uncomfortable, not only because it felt high pressure, but also because I experienced some unexpected technical issues during the call. I’d recommend rethinking this portion of the interview, as it doesn’t reflect a candidate’s true capabilities.
I was genuinely excited about the opportunity and felt the role was a great fit. However, the offer I received was below the salary expectations I had shared early in the process. During my first conversation with the hiring manager, I had mentioned that the initial salary range was lower than my current compensation. He assured me there was flexibility, as long as my ask wasn’t unreasonable. When the offer came through, it was only $3K more than their original figure. I countered with a request for $4K more..still within a very reasonable range, but they declined to negotiate, citing their benefits package as compensation for the gap.
It was disappointing. I felt like I had been led to believe there was room to negotiate, only to find there really wasn’t. It’s unfortunate, especially for a company of that size, that such a small difference couldn’t be resolved. I was very enthusiastic about joining the team and felt the position aligned perfectly with my skills and goals. I was interviewing with another company as well in this whole process and was offered a much higher salary, even though I really wanted to work with Chernoff more.. but Chernoff decided that 4k more was too much for them to compromise on. I decided to decline their offer and accept the offer from the other company that valued my skill set more with a salary that I was happy with. What a shame.