I was sent a link for two separate personality tests (Myer-Briggs and one other) and a request for my availability. I completed both tests and sent over my availability the same day the links were sent over. Then, radio silence for two weeks. I sent a follow up email which did receive a quick reply, and sent over more availability. A few days later, I receive an automatic email that they have scheduled me for an interview in three (3) hours. No one notified me in advance, or emailed me asking if I was still available. I sent over an email asking if this was in error or not, as they were giving me three hours notice and there was no email or anything scheduling this, and they responded that it was indeed on purpose because this time was listed on my availability (which I was, but scheduling something like this three hours in advance with no notice is ridiculous). I show up anyways, giving them the benefit of the doubt, and it was a waste of my time which wasn't a surprise. When I asked, my interviewer struggled to tell me anything truly positive about working there. They also have three or four rounds of interviews, which would be fine if their pay scale wasn't also on the lower end of the market rate (which is also unsurprising since the pay wasn't listed online either). I believe it was something like $40-60k/yr.

The interview, a video call with a hiring person, went fairly typically. I was asked about my experience, and talked some about the projects I worked on. But, I ended up withdrawing from the interview process due to several red flags that came up. First, I was concerned about whether the role itself actually existed, as the position exactly mirrored another contractor role I recently pursued, almost got, but ultimately lost, due to the role being retracted. In this case, the role was to work for Lightfeather, working underneath a prime contractor, supporting a federal agency, and would require an internal interview, followed by a 30 minute interview with the prime contractor in the end. This was the EXACT SAME process I heard from another subcontractor, for the same role, with the same prime, for the same agency. For the other contractor, I had a couple internal interviews, and they were impressed enough with me to send me forward to the prime contractor for that 30 minute interview. However, in the end, the prime contractor decided against filling the role at all. This role and interview came about a week after I got the bad news for the other role. So why would I be told I am interviewing for a position that no longer exists? Second, the technical assessment was extremely time-consuming. When I was told that I had 72 hours to complete the work, I thought that was because they were considering someone having to fit a few hours into their day to complete the assignment. I didn't realize how many deliverables they were seeking. The assessment was easily 2–3 full days of work, which is unreasonable and burdensome for candidates with real-world responsibilities. To add insult to injury, there wasn't nearly enough information provided to do a good job anyway. Lengthy assessments like this are wholly unnecessary; a short task, a timed test, or structured discussion should be sufficient to evaluate skills. Third, what REALLY alarmed me was that the requested work was to design the first few screens for an internal application for Lightfeather, along with other accompanying documentation such as user journeys and user personas. This assessment seemed directly applicable to Lightfeather’s own operations, and I was given no assurance it wouldn’t be used without compensation. The whole assessment request felt exploitative, and I immediately felt that this was a case of looking for free work under the guise of looking to hire a designer. Overall, this process was very disappointing and raised serious questions for me about the company's ethics when it comes to hiring, at least when it comes to ux/ui/graphic designer roles, and ultimately led me to conclude that this company was not really looking for a new hire. I gladly withdrew my candidacy and I am not looking back. I hope no other UX/UI/graphic designer falls for their "interview process."

The interview process was incredibly efficient. Within 24 hours of submitting my application, I was contacted with next steps, which included a quick personality assessment and a 15-minute pre-screen interview. After that, the recruiter gathered my availability and scheduled my Level 1 interview for later that same week. I then had a few follow-up interviews where I was able to meet with different members of the team and learn more about the company culture. Everything was scheduled very quickly, and I moved through the process seamlessly. It was clear that they were genuinely interested in getting to know me as a person, not just evaluating my technical skills. I would highly recommend this interview experience.