Since I was a referral the interview didn't include a typical phone screen first, but that aside the interview process was great! Over the past month, I've been on 5 different onsite interviews and I can easily say that my experience with Square's onsite interview was the best (Google comes as a close 2nd). You'll get an email from the Recruiting Coordinator with detailed instructions on how to get to the office and what things to expect in terms of getting into the building. I highly recommend following these instructions especially the part asking you to arrive early as you do need to check in with security in the building lobby which can take some time if there a lot of people coming in (don't forget your ID). The email from the coordinator also included the names and of everyone that I'll be meeting and when. Once onsite you'll get tour of their really nice office by your coordinator and after that they'll take you to your interview room. One of the top reasons why I felt this interview experience was a great one was that no one on the panel asked me the same question. Everyone had a different topic that they wanted to discuss with me which I really appreciated as a candidate. Outside of Google, every other interview that I went on had the interviewers asking me the same questions over and over again which honestly gets tiring. I also appreciated how the questions were a mixture of hypothetical, situational, and behavior type of questions. I really felt that I was able to provide a holistic view of myself through the questions they asked. Another thing that I really appreciated as a recruiter was that that the interviewers didn't waste time going through their own backgrounds. Any good candidate should have already done their homework and looked up the panel's Linkedin profiles. At the end of your interview you'll have a brief wrap up with your recruiter at which point they'll let you know when they'll be getting back to you. I highly value people who can hold true to their commitments and I held off on writing this review to see my recruiter would follow through. I was not disappointed as my recruiter followed up in exactly the time frame she'd set with me. Overall A+ experience!

So, as mentioned to the recruiter during my interview, I was not looking to leave my current company, but there is a concise list of companies that I would interview with, no matter what - Square is one of them. I took the call, and the initial screen went really well, then I was moved forward to a screen with a Tech Recruiter on the team. Thinking back, I don't know if there was anything that I necessarily bombed on. Still, I specifically remember the recruiter asking me, "what kind of things do you do to ensure a good candidate experience?" Answering, I probably gave some super generic answer. I admit, my brain was not firing on all cylinders that morning, or I needed more coffee, whatever. But, again, it wasn't like I completely bombed the interview either. Later that week, I was rejected via email, which is fine since I decided I wanted to stay at my current company anyway. However, I asked the recruiter for feedback via email since I (undoubtedly) know my interview skills are not the best. Ironic since I am a recruiter, I know, but that's rather here nor there. I have received absolutely nothing in response, not even an "as a company, we do not divulge any specific interview feedback to candidates." I would understand that, and I would move on with my life as normal. Personally, I think that is a horrible candidate experience, and I will not interview with them again because of this. No response is not the right call when it comes to interview feedback or candidate experience. Like, did you see my email and trash it? I don't get why you wouldn't at least tell me to get a life or something. Listen. I get it. You're busy. We're all busy. But, I always make it a point to get back to my candidates with some response. So, I guess that's my answer to your question of "how do I ensure a good candidate experience?" I close the loop with everyone that I can, and I make sure they aren't left in the dark. Simply put. Conclusion: Their company vision on candidate experience does not align with mine, so there is no long-term fit there. Fine. If candidate experience is so important to you, I challenge your team to practice what you preach. I'll leave it at that and hope you take this feedback constructively.