Glean (CA) Account Executive Interview Questions
& Process

There were a few steps and reviews involved, all designed to check your skills and how well you can manage a difficult SaaS sales cycle. It started with a recruiter screener, then a hiring manager chat, followed by account mapping, a peer chat, a VP interview, and finally a CRO interview.

My interview experience at Glean was quite extensive. It kicked off with a recruiter chat, followed by meetings with two managers and another Account Executive. The first manager I spoke with, who was new to Glean, didn't quite impress me with her reasoning for joining ('It's one of the hot AI companies and I want to get into the space'), making me question if I wanted to continue. But, based on positive input from my network, I decided to push forward. The subsequent part of the interview was significantly better. I had a great meeting with a more experienced manager and an AE who had been at Glean for a few years. I also had to give a presentation to the team, which lasted about an hour. Even though I was nervous, I put a lot of work into the presentation's content. The main hiccup I encountered was the lack of follow-up communication after the interviews. Despite reaching out twice, I never heard back from the hiring manager or the recruiter. Only the senior manager I initially met with responded, thanking me for the follow-up. Glean generally has a good reputation, but I've seen other comments suggesting that their managers aren't always the most professional with candidates. It's understandable given the company's fast pace, but candidates' time and effort really should be acknowledged, especially when there's an internal referral involved. While I still believe Glean has potential, I can't recommend the specific manager I dealt with, as she might be better suited for coaching junior sales reps.

I was asked to put together a presentation and an account plan as part of the interview process. I spoke with the RD and never went through either. I was told later on from Glean that "we will not be willing to bring on candidates who have recently been laid off and are on the job hunt." They knew my job status heading into the interview process and thought it was an interesting philosophy considering one of their "core values" is "empathy". Would've been nice to know before the hours of work put into the preparation.