Cubert interview questions

Good experience at initial contact with recruitment agency who provided me with company and job information such as mission, culture, sales projections and job description/expectations. Two stage interview process: first with one co-founder and HR, following by the other co-founder (who this position would report) the next day. Both interviews were elaborate yet informal and took the full hour. Interviewers started with functional and skill based questions then moved on behavioural questions, they respected my questions for the company and took the time to answer in detail. Cubert is very fast-paced as demonstrated by the smooth and enjoyable interview process.

My experience with Cubert was strange. I initially interviewed with their hiring manager who was pretty junior and often seemed very distracted. Throughout the interview process, I had been inquiring about the possibility of being fully remote in the future (they have a 1 day a week WFH policy, a very 2019 post-pandemic perk) and the hiring manager said early on he didn’t think it would be a problem. He reiterated they were very concerned about their employees' health and well-being and comfort level with coming into the office amidst everything that is going on, and that their employees had a choice in the matter based on their comfort level. 

As I moved through the interview process, I was given a homework assignment that was lengthier and more involved than any other homework assignment I’ve ever completed while interviewing. The amount of work edged on ridiculous, and when I submitted it I was not given a chance to present it, nor given any feedback on the work. I was simply met with a “well done” and moved along in the process, which was very strange and makes me think they’re just going to lift all my ideas. 

 I was eventually given a verbal offer, and I once again raised the question about working from home permanently with the hiring manager, as the team had started to come back to the office a few times a week. He said he would get the paperwork over to me and inquire about remote work again, despite the fact he had been reassuring me it shouldn’t be a problem. 

 When we chatted again he told me that he had “good news” and that the team was open to me working from home full time. Then he inquired what my vision of working from home was and if I planned on coming into the office twice a week until the new year. I told him my vision of working from home was that I would work from home, but was open to discussion about coming into the office more frequently and building rapport with the team first. During this conversation, his demeanour immediately changed and he said he’d like me to speak with 2 people that I had already spoken to again to make sure we’re aligned on strategy, which seemed odd since it was a discussion we’d already had. He said he’d be in touch to set something up, but then did not contact me again until I reached back out. He informed me they weren’t moving on with my candidacy because the team “highly values collaboration” and wanted me in the office full time.
 TLDR: This company strung me along with the sense that working remotely would definitely be an option, stressed they value the health and safety of their employees and wouldn’t make them do anything they weren’t comfortable with in terms of working in an office, gave me a verbal offer and then retracted it because I wasn’t on board with risking my health to work in an office full time because they “highly value collaboration” without even a discussion of their expectations or a compromise. Everyone was very young and it all felt like amateur hour and I’d steer clear.