Classy Llama shouts from the rooftops about how much they value culture, transparency, and open communication. I think they doth protest too much. I found their one-man hiring team and HR department, such as it is, to be wildly unresponsive and extremely unprofessional with slow and unclear responses (when they promise the opposite) and ultimately taking an approach of just ghosting candidates who they’ve been otherwise positive towards throughout. I personally experienced this, and afterwards, spoke with two other professionals who were treated the same way. They get to take an interesting defense to this poor tactic by hiding behind, “Well everyone inside loves our culture, so if you don’t like something about us it just goes to show you weren’t a good fit.” Fair point, and having seen how they handle the HR process, I’m relieved I wasn’t a good fit. I’m actually curious whether company leadership knows how poorly their HR reflects on them as a company, but based on some of the questions and responses from company leadership, I wonder whether they would even care. Development, technology, and e-commerce are a small world, especially in a community of this size. If I’m ever in a position as a customer to need the services they offer, I’d genuinely go literally anywhere else because I’d be afraid that their HR is just an extension of how they might handle other aspects of their business.

After submitting an application, resume, and cover letter, Classy Llama contacted me to schedule a phone screening. I was asked to submit answers to a number of behavioral type questions prior to the interview. I gave the overall interview process a negative review because I was told I would receive a call back to notify me of my next step or if they decided not to proceed with further interviews. I received no such call. Normally, I would accept this as a "no" but in this case it was unacceptable because the interviewer specifically said I would receive a call, even if I didn't get another interview. After waiting a month for that call, I decided to call the interviewer. He apologized for letting my return call fall through the crack. He reviewed the team's response to my phone screening to offer feedback on why they didn't want to interview me further and concluded that there was nothing in particular wrong with my interview, I just didn't have enough experience in their industry. Here's the most interesting part, the job description emphasized that the person in this role must be empathetic. Empathy is my greatest strength. The experience I don't have can be learned but empathy is a gift, not a skill that can be taught. This position continues to be open after 5+ months.