I applied through university. The process took 7 weeks. I interviewed at Progressive Business Publications (Malvern, PA) in Nov 2013
Interview
Contacted in late October about coming in for interview. Set up interview for early November. Interview lasted an hour, before being moved to another interview for another hour-long question session. Three individuals I interviewed for were nice, interesting people who worked at Progressive Business Publications to support their real writing passions. Deep looks of longing and heavy sighs complemented my questions of how much they enjoyed their time spent at PBP. Nobody works here for the betterment of the company.
After this initial interview, I spent three weeks working on a 200-word assignment. This was not due to my own editing process, but because of the time PBP spent critiquing the assignment and interviewing candidates. I realize the vetting process must be thorough, but three weeks to critique a 200 word assignment is an unfair and unprofessional way to string along prospective employees. I met the standards PBP required for the assignment and scheduled another interview for a week prior to Thanksgiving.
At this final interview, I was asked why I wanted to work at PBP and why my background in journalism met their standards. I gave the "correct" answers and hate myself for it. I spoke of "great reputations" and "charismatic employees" when, in reality, the past month of waiting and critiquing allowed for extensive Googling and research on PBP.
Please, for your sanity and morals, Google "PBP scam." A world of F's and complaints from the BBB, Ripoff Report and consumer affairs awaits you.
(Initially contacted on October 25th. Found out I did not receive job this past week.)