Canary Technologies Product Manager Interview Questions
& Process

This was, by far, one of the worst interview experiences in my 14 years in tech and startups, mostly due to the CEO on the call. First, I met with a recruiter who was super kind and seemed to be passionate. I then met with another PM on the team and enjoyed that conversation too. I received a take-home assignment, which broadly asked me to create a one-pager and present. This is where it went so far south, I almost left mid-call. This wasn’t a presentation but rather an interrogation, and I should have known by just seeing that the CEO was part of the panel when I got my invite. There is no reason a CEO needs to sit in on this stage of a mid-level PM interview at a Series D company. I can only imagine what it’s like getting anything done there. The CEO continued to interrupt and interrogate throughout my presentation and was overall extremely condescending. I decided then and there this wasn’t the company for me, but continued with the interview. There was another interview with the hiring manager immediately after my presentation, but instead of having it they told me they passed. Mostly because I didn’t remember a few KPIs from a company I no longer work for (and was honest about that). I told him I didn’t feel it was a fit either and wished him luck! If you still want to work there after these reviews, bring really specific data for projects from past employers. I get the sense I would’ve been better off lying about my project rather than being honest about the fact I didn’t think to capture months worth of charts and memorize a company’s KPIs I am no longer employed with.

The interview process seemed to have a lot of potential for rescheduling. It started with a recruiter phone screen, then an interview with a Senior PM. After that, there was a product exercise, which was like a quick 1-pager, followed by a panel interview to discuss it. Next up was a "behavioral/culture/product fit" chat with a Product VP. The final round was a long, 3-hour, 6-person interview with the CEO and some people from other teams (engineering, design, ops, etc.). While most people were nice, that last interview really left a bad impression.

I went through two main rounds of interviews. First, there was a conversation with the hiring manager, followed by a panel interview with founders, the hiring manager, and partners from design, engineering, and operations. The whole experience was great; everyone was really nice and made the interviews enjoyable. You could really see their passion for the product and the company. I got an offer but decided not to accept. It was a tough choice, but I'm definitely hoping this company succeeds!