The interview process consisted of an initial screening with an HR recruiter, and then their creative team would review your portfolio, followed by a design skills test. The final step would be a final-round interview.
In the design skills assessment, they provide two hours to complete and edit a project brief and complete as much as you can within that time. The brief included typographical errors that they wanted corrected, incorrect and unusable typeface assets, corrupt Adobe Illustrator files, editing a map, designing the cover, and designing an infographic.
I found that for a company that is on the smaller scale, two things stood out: it's out of the norm in the design industry to have the company further review your creative portfolio after an initial interview with HR, and to ask for a design "skills" test that wasn't truly a measure of skill—it was a measure of completion under stress. If the company wanted a real sense of a designer's capabilities, they could evaluate the portfolio thoroughly and ask for additional work samples if needed.
There were also little to no questions about the designer's competency in systems or prior experience during the HR interview. Additionally, there was no feedback provided about why you weren’t chosen, nor was there a conversation with the creative team beforehand to understand you as a candidate or assess the experience and skills you bring to the table.
For designers going through the process, Alta’s method for assessing candidates is outside industry standards, and I would highly consider whether it’s worth completing their skills test before moving forward.