I applied online and heard back rather quickly. A phone screen was set up and went well. I was moved to the next stage, which was being sent a document with several questions faced by people in this role, to see how I would answer them and to test my writing skills. The first version of the document was horribly formatted, and I was unable to complete the test in the time required. I was sent a second document, equally poorly formatted but I was able to fix it enough to complete the exercise. I was moved on to the next phase, which was a mock call to see how I would handle a typical call for the group. This stage was easy, and I was moved on to a final interview. The final interview was virtual, with two members of the team and went well. I was told they were in a rush to hire someone, and I would be hearing back soon. I should note that each stage of this process was within days of the others, and they seemed truly in a rush to hire someone. That's when the wheels fell off. I emailed a week after the final interview and was told the start date for the position had been pushed back, but that they would be in touch soon. This was the first red flag. Having worked for a startup this either means a contract was lost, didn't come through, or the burn rate is exceeding funding. The second was after the rush to get me to complete each step, to have sudden radio silence from their side made me begin to think this was not the opportunity was not for me. I emailed my contacts telling them I was removing myself from the process. I was asked if I wanted to have a phone call to discuss the current situation with the company, which made me feel my suspicions about the company were indeed true and to help them with their recruiting process. I wrote them back a quick note, and declined the option of a phone call.