I first spoke with an internal recruiter to learn more about the role, the team, and what I was looking for. I give this recruiter props because he made the position, hiring manager, and team sound like a nice place to work. He was also a pleasure to speak with. Unfortunately, that's where the positives end.
After my initial phone screen I was then scheduled to speak with the hiring manager over the phone. They asked me about my background, my work and where I see myself next. Pretty typical, right? Except for the fact that my interviewer (the hiring manager) sounded BORED and/or UNINTERESTED in me/my work. Like they were obligated to speak with me. I did the best I could to articulate my role and responsibilities previously but the interviewer could not convey what they were after FOR THIS ROLE in a cohesive way. I also asked a bit of questions about their management style, where they see the team growing, what's the creative process like, how many projects does an individual work on, etc but I kinda one-sided/unenthusiastic answers that I gained no benefit from.
Not only that, they didn't give much insight into the type of work I would be doing from a creative standpoint or who their external partners were on the adjacent team (like are there copywriters? marketing managers/personnel? do you work closely with senior management) -- how does it all connect together to form this group and how do they work together to make this creative vision for the company? I did not get any sense or insight to any of that.
I got a rejection email 10 mins later lol.
Seriously, if you're the hiring manager/HR and are reading this at least reject me at the recruiting stage if you think it's not gonna work out...I get it; don't waste either parties' times. Or at least make an effort to hype up the work you do and the company you work at (or have some enthusiasm in your voice???)...there's nothing worse than being a potential candidate and then realizing that my interviewer is not interested in me 5 mins into the call and I'm forced to finish this conversation - seriously, I wouldn't have even be offended if you even ended it right away! It reflects badly on you.