I applied online. I interviewed at Graphite Growth
Interview
Had a meeting with HR first which was supposed to be a "short call" but got an invitation for an on camera, 1 hour long interview. Then was given a test that was not difficult but rather annoying to do with the amount of time it took. Followed by an interview with another manager, then a director, followed by the CEO. Speaking with the manager and director was very easy and conversational and they both seemed like friendly, smart people. The CEO was extremely rude and disrespectful during my meeting, didn't even say hello in the beginning and made me feel extremely uncomfortable, After having spoken to mentors who have been in this industry for decades, they were appalled by the fact that this company administered such a labor intensive test before even speaking to anyone. Again, it's not a hard test, but it does take a long time to do which is disrespectful of peoples' time. The CEO interview speaks for itself. You don't want to work here.
First stage of the interview process - they give you an assignment that takes over 5 hours to complete and also ask you to record a video of yourself presenting the assignment, which also takes another 1-2 hours (all while being expected to complete this within 2 days).
Within a few hours of submitting the assignment I spent hours on, I got a message saying "analysis didn't meet the criteria" and "presentation didn't meet the standards". No real feedback other than these vague statements.
I don't know if they realize that the tool they ask you to use to record yourself doing the presentation shows you who has actually viewed the video. The only person that watched the presentation was the HR/Recruiter. Did anyone with a background in SEO/Digital actually look at my assignment and presentation?
Overall just a huge waste of time for someone with no background in SEO or Digital Marketing to grade an SEO assignment. A bit relieved I don't have to go through the rest of this interview process, I'm sure future rounds are full of the same games.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
analyze 2 years of data to form several conclusions and create a strategy for the client
I applied through a recruiter. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Graphite Growth (Berlin) in Apr 2025
Interview
It's a multi-step process including a recruiter screen, case study, 2 director level interviews, and 2 executive level interviews. At no point did I need to re-iterate my CV, which I really appreciated. The process is intense, but I truly felt like I got to know the company throughout, and I appreciated the level of expertise and care that came from each interviewer. Everyone was prepared to speak with me and dive into my experiences. Each interview was also different from the previous one, allowing for many different interesting conversations. The case study was a bit lengthy, but also, I can absolutely see how it's necessary to test basic SEO and reasoning skills that are needed for the role. The case study was in line with other interview processes and felt fair to me.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
From Ahrefs data, I can see that at your previous position, you opted to de-index many pages in October last year. Why?