Ad Hoc (DC) Product Manager interviews, decoded.

I applied online and had an employee referral. It took a few weeks to hear back from a recruiter, and even then, the initial call was rescheduled with not much communication. The second round was a 2-person panel, but that was 4 weeks ago, and I haven't heard anything since. The recruiter seemed uninterested and it felt like a checkbox call.

The interview focused entirely on situational questions, like 'tell me about a time when...'. There was very little about skills, experience with tools, or general knowledge for the role.

The recruiter for this company was really bad. They scheduled me and then rescheduled twice using Google Calendar without any email confirmation. Then, they showed up to the interview seeming uninterested, as if they were having a bad day. While I get that, it makes a bad first impression on the organization. I tried to be energetic and engaging, but they only asked about three questions and ended the 30-minute session around 15 minutes in. It was a terrible experience.