This was an extremely lengthy process. In total, I had twelve interviews with Snap before receiving a generic rejection email from the recruiter. I didn't have the exact type of digital media experience they clearly wanted (I genuinely think they only want former Google and Meta employees), but I was a referral and kept getting really positive feedback and being pushed through to another round. Ultimately I wasn't upset/surprised to not get an offer because the process was so grueling and I saw the writing on the wall - but I was annoyed to have so much of my time taken up by what could have been screened out really quickly up front. On top of that, I had multiple interviews rescheduled at the last minute or just scheduled without ever asking for my availability. They don't respect candidates' time and that's the biggest warning I can give.
That being said, here are the steps I went through and some tips to help others:
1- Recruiter phone screen
2- Hiring manager phone screen for 30 minutes. This was less conversational than I expected and already really into the "Tell me about a time when..."
3- I was asked to build a deck from a data set. I had to submit the deck to see if it was good enough to keep going, and they give you exactly 48 hours to get the data and build the deck. If you have to build this deck, read every part of the Snap for Business website. Know that clients build out their own ads in the Snap Ads Hub so some of the creative examples they share don't follow best practices and you need to note that. They publish their metrics/glossary so use those, and if you want to go above and beyond use their brand guidelines (easily googled)
4-9 If the deck passes, you move on to the panel phase. In this phase you present the deck to two people, then have five more conversations back-to-back for 30 minutes each. Fun fact: I took a half day from work and this entire panel was cancelled and rescheduled at the last minute for a different day. No apology, no asking if it still worked for me. None of the people were even in my state and none were people I would actually work with. Lots and lots more "Tell me about a time when..." with time for maybe one question from me at the very end.
10-12: If you receive good feedback on the deck presentation and from the panelists you finally get to talk to teams who are actually hiring. It's an AE and a Manager of Account Management for 45 minutes and if you think it's going to be conversational you're absolutely wrong! Many more "Tell me about a time when..." scenarios and again, maybe one minute at the end for you to ask a question. These were scheduled without even asking for my availability. And despite the fact that I was told my deck and presentation were one of the best they'd seen, despite the fact that I had great feedback every step, this was where it became apparent that if you don't have the exact experience they want then they will not hire and train you. Which again is absolutely fair, but this can and should be screened out earlier in the process.
