I applied in October 2019 and received a request for a phone screen two weeks later. I was qualified for 2 of the 4 Accounting/Finance roles that they were trying to fill, so I viewed any interviews as an opportunity to present myself for both roles.
The phone screen was simple and started with an overview of the Company, including that they were a U.S. GAAP reporting entity that had done an IPO in 2018. I was also informed that they were now just getting around to building out their accounting team because there was only one technical person and she was doing a lot by herself and she “really needed support because heaven-forbid she ends up missing an SEC filing deadline” [RED FLAG #1]. The talent acquisition person also explained that their goal was initially to have their accounting team in Seattle but that didn’t work out so they were filling them in Toronto [RED FLAG #2]. I was told there was a salary range for the role but he “couldn’t tell me” [RED FLAG #3].
I felt the phone screen had gone well and the very next day I got an email asking me to come in for an in-person interview. I was asked “What does your schedule look like tomorrow?” [RED FLAG #4] Now seriously, it is all well and good to follow-up with candidates promptly after phone screens, but asking the candidate to come in for an interview the next day wreaked of desperation. Good candidates need time to prepare and good employers understand that. I didn’t respond and several hours later, I got another email asking me what my schedule looked like the following week. I then settled on an in-person interview near the end of that week.
I interviewed with the only technical accounting professional working there. She was nice enough and the interview was fairly simple. She only asked about my resume and whether or not I had experience dealing with specific areas of technical accounting. Fortunately, I did, and in my responses, I highlighted that fact and spoke about their technical accounting issues in detail. Heads up: Tilray has a lot of challenging technical accounting stuff, so if you are not TRULY technical, do not even bother to apply.
She also told me about all the challenges they were having. They wanted her stationed in Toronto but the other accounting roles would be in Seattle. She finally put her foot down and said no. She explained how they really had no processes in place for anything, that consolidation was a manual process, and that they always had to farm out any technical accounting to a firm because they had no people [RED FLAG #5]. She kept saying “year-end is going to be bad. Really, really bad."
I also got the impression that I was definitely getting an offer because she would say “when you start…” or “this is something I want you to take off my plate” [RED FLAG #6]. I had already decided that I wouldn’t accept the offer because they weren’t properly staffed and I didn’t want to do the work of multiple people. When I got the offer, the salary was too low...like $20K too low. I actually laughed and didn’t bother to read the offer until I had to call to decline it. Their benefits also SUCK. Tilray wants the best talent, but is not willing to pay for it and their benefits do not make up for the shortfall in salary. Tilray doesn't want to accept that because they are a U.S. GAAP and U.S. SEC reporting entity, and are terribly behind on SOX, they need to pay people more for the volume of work that needs to be done.
Two weeks after I declined the offer, the person who interviewed me quit, and they had nobody to get them through year-end. They had to hire an outside firm to do all the work.
Too many red flags. Please stay away!