I rarely leave negative reviews, but my experience interviewing for a creative leadership role warrants a transparent account for future candidates. The whole process took nearly three months, and at almost every stage, the communication and professionalism were far below expectations for a company of this size and reputation. Someone here mentioned that their process took four months. If I didn't proactively reach out to both the hiring and recruiting teams, it would have taken just as long for me, if not longer. [[ ——— MAJOR ISSUES I EXPERIENCED ——— ]] ——— 1. Unresponsiveness and long delays between steps ——— There were repeated stretches of silence where no one moved the process forward unless I initiated. For example, after my hiring manager interview, I didn’t hear anything for over two weeks. When I finally emailed them 3 weeks later to check in, only then did they respond with details of an assignment and a presentation — that's a month between key interviews. For a senior role, the lack of structure and urgency was surprising. ——— 2. They repeatedly failed to provide basic information ——— I was asked to resend my portfolio link that was already included in my application, and when scheduling the final interview, they didn’t provide a list of who I’d be meeting with, despite it being an in-person interview at first (the format changed to virtual the day before). ——— 3. Interviewers consistently late with zero communication ——— This happened at three different stages: 1) the video call with the hiring manager, 2) my online presentation interview with a senior director and a VP, and 3) the final interview with six direct reports. People showed up from 5 to around 15 minutes late without any message, call, or email. For a company evaluating candidates for a leadership position, the lack of courtesy and time awareness felt especially unprofessional. ——— 4. Follow-ups went mostly unanswered ——— I emailed both the recruiter and hiring manager multiple times throughout the process. The hiring manager never acknowledged any of the additional insights and portfolio context I sent to help them evaluate me. Only the VP acknowledged receiving my email. ——— 5. Final rejection was a generic, inaccurate form email ——— After all the interviews, including an assignment and a 20-minute presentation, I followed up with the recruiter on timing so that I can keep other people that I was talking to posted. Three days later when I followed up again the second time, I received a canned message that reads “Based on our review, we regret to inform you that your resume is not a match for this role.” 🧐 Given how far along I was and nearly three months of engagement, that felt quite careless and dismissive. With all that said, after reading the message, I felt completely validated and a huge sense of relief — I think I dodged a bullet. [[ ——— BOTTOM LINE ——— ]] This was one of the most disorganized and poorly managed interview processes I’ve encountered in 15+ years of creative leadership. The lack of timeliness, preparation, communication, and disregard for candidates’ time reflects deeper issues with their recruiting operations and internal alignment. Future candidates, especially for creative and senior roles, should be aware of what they may be stepping into.