Cato Product Manager Interview Questions
& Process

I emailed their employment admin and got a reply in a few days to set up a phone call interview. It was pretty laid-back and the hiring manager was trying to find the best fit for my experience and interests, which ended up being in sourcing. The next week, I had a face-to-face interview with 5 people, with each interview lasting 30 minutes. It was very conversational and informal about the job responsibilities. The week after that, I got an offer. So the whole process took about 2 weeks.

I applied online and heard back from a recruiter about a month later. They scheduled a phone interview for the next week. That same week, they emailed me about an in-person interview, which was scheduled for about a week and a half after that. The recruiter actually thought my experience was a better fit for a Product Manager role than what I applied for. Since I'm out of state, I drove up the day before and stayed in a hotel to make it to the morning interview. I got there about 15 minutes early, but it took a while for them to come get me. I did a personality test and then met with 6 people from the Product Development department. The interviews ran about 20 minutes late. I thought meeting with that many people for an entry-level role was a bit much, but it was okay. Most of them were nice to talk to. The interviews were mostly about discussing my background and them explaining the role. One of the product managers made some really rude faces when she seemed confused instead of just asking questions. The last person I spoke with was the worst interviewer I've ever had, really aggressive. She kept asking why I didn't just go back to my internship job, even after I explained that the company had layoffs and wasn't hiring in that department. She asked me what I knew about the job based on what others had told me, and she shook her head and made an angry face when I told her. She picked apart my experience, saying my internships were short. She seemed to be trying to make herself look superior and belittled me. She then rudely asked if I'd get an apartment nearby. I said yes, and she snapped that I couldn't drive 5 hours every day, ignoring the part about getting an apartment. I said again I'd find an apartment. It's a shame some people have such bad interviewing skills and waste everyone's time and resources.

It started with an email inquiry where I had to answer 5 questions. Then, there was a phone interview with HR. The final interview was a video interview. Since I was in NYC, the company set up a conference room for it. There were three interviewers, but I spoke to them one at a time.