All said and done, the interview process took about 3 months long. HR required a follow-up to understand next steps throughout the process. Numerous phone interviews were required, which was the best part of the process because you were talking with people you’d actually be working with. The people I talked to in this part of the process were great. The “final round” interview required an in person interview with 3 very high level executives. This took ~4 more weeks to schedule. I took the assumption that since I made it to the final round interview, the executives knew my experience and years of experience (more on that later). 24 hours before the final round interview, I was asked to adjust the time to accommodate a schedule change of one of the execs. Sure, not a problem. 5 hours before the interview I was told that one of the execs can no longer attend and therefore I would have to reschedule that interview with him. Considering it took 4 weeks to get on these guys calendar, I wasn’t thrilled about this, but made the best of it. Proceeded with interviewing 2/3, and from the moment I met the first executive, it became odd. I’ve been fortunate to have a lot of great experience in a short amount of time, making me not a 20 year old veteran in the industry. Some companies look at that as a positive and some do not. This Allstate exec couldn’t get past that I reminded him of his daughter, so much so that he made numerous appearance comments, which was completely unprofessional. Was he trying to break the ice and find commonality? Maybe, but how could he take me seriously when all he sees is his daughter who has an entry level position at Allstate? It was awful, and we maybe talked about my experience for 8 mins total. The second exec wasn’t nearly as terrible, but you could tell he struggled with interviewing a relatively young female in the security industry. When talking about my experience or answering the few behavioral questions I was asked, responses from both execs were always positive and encouraging, which led me to believe that regardless of appearance, sex, or age, everyone in the room could agree I had great experience for this role. I was contacted by HR 4 days later, stating I did not get this director job but would I consider a more junior level role. So i am qualified enough to do the work/job, but not at a senior level? How does that make any sense. I also asked her why I didn’t get the “senior level” role and she had no feedback to share. In my gut, I know it has everything to do with my age, sex, and appearance. Look at Allstate’s executives, they are mostly all men, with very little representation of women. So am I surprised? No. I turned down considering the lower level position. The culture is not progressive enough for me. Females primarily fill admin and HR roles, as I only met one fairly senior (VP) level female in the security org. This is a culture that also supports no flexibility. Working from home wasn’t an option yet the commute would take forever. Pay range wasn’t terrible, but not where I’ve seen other similar positions. Good luck Allstate finding top tier security talent with this type of culture.