Emma Manager Interview Questions
& Process

The interview process for this senior Customer Excellence role was disappointing in several ways, especially considering the seniority and international scope of the position. The first initial pre-screening call was quite professional and enticing, and it raised expectations for the stages coming next, but that's where a positive experience ended. The following stage involved three interviews booked back-to-back, each with a different pair of interviewers. You only proceed to the next interview if you “pass” the previous one — you find this out by entering the next scheduled meeting slot, where someone appears just to tell you you're no longer moving forward. That alone says a lot about the structure and empathy behind the candidate experience. The interview questions were a mix of disconnected behavioral and “trick” questions. For example, when asked “how would you solve a city’s public transportation problems?”, when attempting to approach it with a structured, collaborative, and data-driven methodology, the interviewers pushed back, saying, “What if you don’t have access to data?” That shift in framing made it feel more like a guessing game than a genuine insight into the candidate’s thinking. It also showed a lack of shared understanding of what the question was trying to assess, especially for a role where real-world context and nuance matter. Another example of questionable design was being asked, “What do people not like about you?” — a clichéd and unproductive question that rarely offers meaningful insight and tends to catch candidates off guard, especially without context. These questions are not appropriate substitutes for meaningful business discussion. For a company that claims to value operational excellence and customer experience, the interview experience itself did not reflect those principles. I was also asked how I would measure customer satisfaction. After suggesting email follow-ups, the interviewer challenged, “What if customers don’t reply?” I offered alternative channels including in-store feedback or business partner-led touchpoints. At that point, it became clear this was a real-life challenge the company faces—not a hypothetical scenario. Yet there was no transparency about that. The conversation started to feel like an attempt to crowdsource ideas for internal issues under the guise of an interview, which is not only inappropriate but feels exploitative without a proper, mature, and transparent framing of the question in advance. Finally, I asked thoughtful, relevant questions—such as how performance in this role is assessed, what global collaboration looks like at Emma, and what kind of learning and development opportunities are in place. I received vague or evasive replies, without substance. This gave the impression that the interviewers were either not prepared, not aligned, or lacked the strategic vision expected in a team hiring for leadership roles. As a mature and experienced professional, the misalignment and lack of coherence became evident quite early in the process. Unfortunately, this created a growing sense of disconnect — as if the expectations I came in with, and the role’s potential, were drifting further apart with each step. It felt like a missed opportunity on both sides. While I appreciated the opportunity and was initially enthusiastic about the company’s mission, I left the process concerned about the maturity and cohesion of the team, especially when recruiting for a strategic, senior-level, international CX leadership role. The process did not inspire confidence in how such roles are defined, scoped, or integrated internally.

It was one of the best interviews I've attended! After graduating with my master's in June 2021, I was looking for jobs. After a long job hunt, I got offers from many places and chose to join Emma. Here are the stages I went through to get a permanent position. First, I filled out an application, which was different and creative. Then, I did an online assessment with numerical, verbal, and logical reasoning. After that, I had a screening interview with a Talent Acquisition Executive. Once I passed that, I had 3 interviews on the same day! The first was to check my strategic fit and motivation, and it included some case studies. It was interactive and insightful. The next was to assess my personality and traits that would fit the team and role. The final interview was with the team head, and it was my chance to share something not on my resume, like how I could add value. After these interviews, I got an offer in 2 days. The whole process took about 2 weeks.

The interview process was okay for the most part. The interviewer, who was new to the company, asked standard questions and a case study about what I'd do with scissors as a pizza delivery man. It felt conversational, but they didn't seem to grasp my role, which was strange since they contacted me. They asked me to quantify my writing/editing work, which is hard because my routine changes based on needs. I asked about the knowledge manager role, and the interviewer had a basic grasp of it. I was hoping to learn more from the senior HR person in the second interview, but they moved on with other candidates. Oddly, they interviewed me as an experienced writer/editor but didn't ask for a portfolio, either forgetting or not understanding the specialized nature of writing/editing.