Etsy Engineering Manager Interview Questions
& Process

I applied online and first had a phone screen with the office director. Then, I went through a technical phone screen with an engineer from the team. After that, I had an on-site interview. The on-site involved a tour of the office, followed by 4 interviews. Two of these were with engineers, and the others were one-on-one meetings with product managers and engineering managers. Two interviews were conducted via video chat. There was also a lunch break where I ate with the office staff in the kitchen.

I applied online and heard back from the recruiter about 10 days later. The whole process was really well-organized, and everyone I spoke with was nice and actually listened, which says a lot about the company culture. Even though I didn't get the job, the recruiter called to let me know they'd offered it to someone else, which was good of them. Most places don't even bother to reply if you don't make it. The whole thing took about two weeks; they actually sped things up for me because I had other offers. The interview loop had a few parts: first, a screening with the hiring manager for about 45 minutes focusing on team management and conflict resolution. Then, the main interview loop included a system design round where they asked questions relevant to the role, so definitely dig into the domain. There was also a product round covering topics like balancing tech debt with product goals, evangelizing the team, and handling shifting priorities. A project deep dive involved discussing a past feature or system's architecture and design choices. A cultural fit/collaboration round was another behavioral interview, so knowing Etsy's core values is key for questions about leading people. Finally, a leadership round went deep into leadership values, style, and principles. It was a great experience overall; I met some awesome people even though I didn't get through and hope to keep in touch.

I applied for two Engineering Manager roles at Etsy recently. One got to an architecture interview, the other ended after the phone screen. Communication with recruiting was really bad - hard to get a response, and they didn't even acknowledge my availability updates. One recruiter missed a scheduled phone screen because it was on a company holiday. The emails I got felt automated and lacked context. For the one that went further, they said I was strong and should apply for other management roles, but then they ghosted me when I suggested some. The hiring process here is chaotic and disrespectful.