Chewy Category Manager Interview Questions
& Process

The recruiter experience was good and professional, but the first interview was not. The interviewer joined with her camera off and didn't introduce herself or her background. My camera was on the whole time. There was background noise, including a baby, during the interview. I asked for clarification because it was distracting, and she said her nanny was sick and she was working from home, which explained the camera being off. A brief pause or reschedule would have been better to ensure a fair interview. Several questions were actually multiple questions rolled into one, making them hard to answer clearly. The interview felt disorganized with unclear prompts and not much follow-up. The tone shifted after my second response, and the interview ended abruptly with 'That's it—any questions?'. Since she didn't introduce herself, I asked her role and background at the end, which she admitted she should have shared earlier. The experience made me concerned about communication, organization, and leadership, and didn't seem like a place that sets people up for success. I withdrew my application immediately after. Chewy should have basic standards for conducting interviews.

The process started with a recruiter phone screen. Then I had a video call with the hiring manager. They provided a lot of detailed information about the role and we had a back-and-forth Q&A session.

The interview process started with a phone screen that included one or two behavioral questions. After that, there was an interview with the hiring manager, followed by an interview with someone from a cross-functional team. Then, there was a four-interview loop. I noticed some interviewers were really friendly and engaged, while others were quite rude or didn't seem interested in what I had to say. It felt like interviewers were asking the same questions repeatedly, suggesting they didn't coordinate beforehand on which principles to cover. The recruiter's prep call was helpful, but it was scheduled for the day before the final round of interviews. Additionally, all interviewers were at least five minutes late, and I didn't get the final interview schedule confirmed until the day before the interviews began. This whole experience gave me a chaotic impression of the company. Their attempt to mimic Amazon didn't impress me; it felt like they lacked a distinct identity and culture.