I have been following Tableau for some time and have been extremely impressed with their product. I was thus excited to have the opportunity to interview for the Sr. Practice Manager position within their Professional Services organization.
The interview process was the most disorganized and frustrating experience I've ever encountered.
The first step of the process was that the Recruiting Coordinator setup an interview with the Recruiter. Even though the phone interview was scheduled a week in advance, the recruiter didn't call in for the interview. I went back to the recruiting coordinator who apologized and reset the interview for a couple of days later. The recruiter again didn't call in to the interview. Finally, the third time, I was able to speak with the recruiter.
The interview with the recruiter was very conversational. We explored different positions within the organization that would provide the best fit for my skills, interest, experience, and target compensation. We decided that the Sr. Practice Manager role would provide the best fit.
My next interview (about a week later) was with the Sr. Director of Professional Services. The interview was again very conversational as we explored my experience. The next two interviews (about a week later) were with two individuals who would be my peers. Both individuals were very candid about their experience working with Tableau. The feedback I received was that if anything, I was overqualified for the position. One of the individuals told me that he would recommend me for the position. I finished all of these interviews by the end of July.
And then there was silence.
About a week later, I tried to contact the recruiter by email and phone to understand the next steps and the timing of their hiring for the position but didn't receive any responses. I circled back with the recruiting coordinator who was very responsive but ultimately not very helpful as he said that the recruiter would be in contact with me. A couple more weeks and still no contact from the recruiter. I again reached out to the recruiting coordinator who told me that he would personally follow up with the recruiter. I finally received an email from the recruiter in late August that stated that final interviews for the position would be scheduled either in mid to late September.
I again reached out (emails and phone calls) to the recruiter in mid September to see how they were tracking on their original schedule but didn't receive a response. I reached back out to the recruiting coordinator who responded but again deferred to the recruiter. Finally, frustrated with the lack of communication, in the beginning of October, I tried to call the Sr. Director of Professional Services to see if he could provide any insight into the hiring process. I left a message with his receptionist but never received a response.
I contacted the recruiting coordinator to express my frustration and asked him if I would be contacted if I were no longer being considered for the position. He assured me that they would contact me either way. He apologized for the confusion and said that a new recruiting coordinator had been hired and he would have her reach out to me.
Another week passed without hearing anything. During the second week of October, I reached out to the original recruiting coordinator, apologizing for pestering him but letting him know that he was the only one who would return my calls or emails. Within 45 minutes I received a generic email from the new recruiting coordinator thanking me for interviewing but that they decided to pursue other candidates.
Questions abound.
When did they make the decision to not pursue my candidacy? How could they make such a decision with such little information? I had only had three, one hour interviews regarding my skills and experience with no face to face communication and the feedback from those three interviews had all been extremely positive.
The core competency of a professional services organization is setting and exceeding appropriate expectations. This requires constant and effective communication with customers. How could a professional services organization fail so miserably to communicate with potential hires? Do they treat their customers with the same disrespect and arrogance?
I still love Tableau's product but wonder how long they can survive with such organizational incompetence.