IMPORTANT NOTE: I only heard back from HR after I emailed the interviewers and HR repeatedly about any next steps or timeline after my interview. The interviewers never replied and they gave me two PDF's of 392 pages to read/write reviews on/cross reference with other books. It is unacceptable and unprofessional to give this amount of work for an initial interview and never even respond to my follow-up questions. The interview was standard with two people representing the two departments you would be working for. The questions were pretty standard and just expected to hear about why you are passionate about this work.

Applied online but had a referral. Met with HR for about 2 minutes before meeting with three other editorial directors. Everyone was lovely, seemed genuinely interested in answering my questions, and was very thorough in describing the demands of the position and the work culture. What was really disappointing was the lack of communication and transparency following the first interview. HR never responded to my emails about when I might hear back, or what the rest of the process may look like. After emailing the editors, I was informed about a month later that they had decided to go in a different direction with the role. I wish there had been more transparency during this process. I also think S&S would do well to post just a few more details about job openings when they post online--often they don't even mention the imprint that's hiring. It certainly doesn't benefit them to have applicants that are under-informed.