Cedar Interview Questions
& Process

I had a 15-minute call with a recruiter, then a 90-minute live coding interview, followed by a 45-minute chat with the hiring manager. The virtual onsite was 6 hours over two days. There was supposed to be one more 30-minute call with engineering leadership. I was really impressed with how the whole process went. Everyone was super transparent and professional. They prepped me really well for each interview, telling me exactly what to expect and giving me a heads up on the topic and what they'd ask. It was a bummer they didn't move forward after I felt so good about it and got so far.

Applied online. Had a recruiter screen, then a hiring manager screen. After that, there were various interviews. The recruiter was great and compassionate, very clear about the role and what they needed. The hiring manager was the opposite, very judgmental, and had only been there 2 months. They admitted they had no healthcare experience, which sounded arrogant rather than transparent. The interview was off-putting, which is a shame because the recruiter gave a good intro to the company. I wouldn't recommend applying for marketing roles here because there seems to be a gap between what the recruiter knows about the company culture and this hiring manager's expectations. Lots of implicit bias and judgment, which is contrary to Cedar's stated values.

I made it to the final round. The design lead interviewer was the worst I've ever had, really unprofessional. She cancelled our initial interview 5 minutes before and had to reschedule. The coordinator forgot to send the cancellation email. I wish I could've recorded it, her tone was incredibly low energy and it felt like she thought interviewing me was a waste of time. She seemed to have made up her mind before I even joined the call, as there was routinely 3 seconds of silence after I answered a question before she started speaking very slowly and quietly. It was honestly the single worst interview experience I've ever had, either conducting or interviewing for.

The interview process was long, taking over a month. The recruiter was great and always got back to me quickly. They really emphasized finding someone who was a cultural fit, mentioning it multiple times. I met with 7 different people. Some interviews were quick, with questions aimed at me or product demos. The actual hiring manager was late for our meeting and never replied to my follow-up questions. About 4 weeks in, during a technical interview, I realized they expected software engineering experience, even though I had specifically asked for and was only interested in account management roles. Ultimately, I wasn't selected because I didn't have that background, and in the end, it probably wasn't a good fit overall. I think the required technical skills should have been clearly stated in the job description and screened for earlier, rather than focusing so much on cultural fit and promoting Cedar's products.