The interview process was pretty extensive and took me about 20 days from initial application to receiving an offer. I applied online.
The interview process was broken up into 4 different parts for me:
1. An initial phone interview with the recruiter you are in contact with: Pretty basic and informal (under 30 minutes). Getting to know why you are interested in the role as well as the recruiter explaining the goals of the role as well as the company and thoroughly explaining the rest of the interview process (which I appreciated). There is time for you to ask the recruiter questions.
2. A second phone interview, this time with a member of the Client Happiness team: Another ~30 minute interview. I was really impressed by the questions that the interviewer asked me; They showed that my interviewer had really spent some time looking at my resume and thinking of unique, experience specific questions. This is a great time to ask role specific questions and get an insider perspective as to what the daily responsibilities of a Client Happiness team member include.
3. Writing sample: If you make it through the two phone interviews, you will be asked to do a writing sample. This is fairly straight forward, as you are essentially given several fake (but realistic) emails prompts/questions that you would most likely receive in the role. You are judged on your responses to the emails.
4. In person interview: Finally comes the in person interview. This was a 3-4 hour long interview where I met with 6-7 different Earnest interviewers. They let you know who you are meeting with beforehand, so do your research! You meet Earners from all different teams: data, credit operations, portfolio, HR, and of course Client Happiness. You meet with these individuals in 30 minute increments. I can honestly say that I enjoyed speaking with all of the people I met, their questions were usually thoughtful & insightful, albeit sometimes a little bit repetitive (which I would expect with 6-7 separate interviews). You get a very well rounded perspective of the employees at Earnest by the end of your interview. There will be resume and experience specific questions, as well as traditional interview questions, but I felt that this was very much a cultural fit/behavioral interview, so be yourself!
Conclusion: The interview process for what is essentially a customer service position may seem overly complex and thorough, but it is ultimately because the Client Happiness role/team at Earnest is a somewhat nontraditional customer service position, in that it is a key component of maintaining client relationships and requires significant empathy and the ability to work with a wide array of departments in order to troubleshoot. As I learned more about the role throughout the interview process, I quickly understood the necessity of the thoroughness.
I can say that I genuinely enjoyed going through this interview process, I felt that my time was respected and that everyone I spoke with was intelligent, thoughtful, hardworking, and most importantly, friendly. Earnest seems to have a strong and organized HR department, and my recruiter, Colleen, was a joy to work with and very friendly, responsive, and respectful throughout the entire process.