I applied online and had a phone screen with a recruiter after a week or two. It was an awkward conversation, but I was contacted soon after to complete the sample project and personality/logic test. The project was estimated to take three hours but took much longer. It's unclear to me whether the project and its instructions are poorly designed or I simply put too much work into it (I'm leaning towards the former). Either way, it was a massive time suck and was followed several days later by a rejection email and an invitation to follow them on LinkedIn. A tip: if you're asking interviewees to complete large research projects, save them for the last round of interviews. It's absurd to expect marginally invested first rounders to dedicate hours to a screening tool.

I agree with previous reviewees below. Their interview process is a bit ridiculous for a research job that really does not require much and I feel like I wasted valuable time. I did not get a phone screening like one of the reviewees below so therefore besides the research I did on the company website (which there is not much on the company since I'm assuming they're a fairly new start-up) I did not know much about the company at all. I didn't get to ask questions about the company, the position, the work environment and team, pay/benefits/scheduling, or what to expect and what would be expected of me. I simply got an email to do a very time consuming research project, which I agree with the reviewee below that a project like that should be given to the last round of candidates you are considering, not right off the bat to everyone. It isn't beneficial to anyone. You haven't even had the chance to meet or talk with me and get a feel of my personality among other things. I have had no chance to get an idea of how the company runs, a more detailed in-depth discussion of the position and what's expected, the personality of you as a recruiter and the people you will potentially be working with, etc. Why would I put my time and effort into a 3+ hour project when you haven't really given me anything to be excited about? I have no idea if the company is worth working for because you have given me nothing to go off of. I have never had a recruiting process be so impersonal before. I just felt like I did unpaid work for them in the long run. Honestly, I didn't even bother putting to much effort into the project because of my experience. I can understand a basic skills test and personality test but a 3+ hour project when I haven't even had a conversation with you is a bit much. I simply did the project just to see what would happen. I strongly advise you make some changes to your recruiting process.