Kidder Mathews Interview Questions
& Process

I had an initial Zoom interview with Jim Lovstead in May 2023. He was direct, a good listener, answered my questions, and asked about my experience. I felt good about it and was told I'd meet the team manager and her assistant next via Zoom. When that meeting time came, I joined the Zoom link 5 minutes early. After 10 minutes, the main interviewer (my potential manager) joined, saying the other person was late. She then muted me for about 5-8 minutes. I was a bit upset as I'd taken time off work for this. The second interviewer finally joined and apologized for being late due to unrelated reasons. The main interviewer then prompted the second interviewer to ask questions. He seemed unprepared and asked if I'd used specific software I wasn't familiar with. When I said no and asked for a comparison to software I knew, he questioned if I'd already interviewed with Jim. He then asked how long I'd been in marketing (2 years), and both interviewers sighed, which made me feel I was not going to get the job. I tried to defend my experience, but they were unresponsive. The final question was 'why should you be hired?', and my answer about being a team player and improving real estate marketing was met with silence. The first interviewer then just said 'good luck to ya'. The first interviewer was cold and uninterested from the start. I was very upset after the meeting.

The interview usually consists of two rounds. First, you'll interview with the team managers. Typically, within the same week, there's a second interview with some of the team members you'd be working with. You'll usually hear back about whether you got the job within 2 business days after the last interview.

So I had 5 interviews total, 3 phone calls and 2 in person at the office. Be ready for a lot of phone interviews, in person ones, a Photoshop/InDesign test, and a basic spelling/grammar check. They're super honest about the good and bad parts of working there. They admit some parts of the job are kinda messy, but they care more about your personality than your skills. You gotta have a strong personality and be able to handle a high-stress environment. If you're outgoing and like company parties and events, you'll fit right in. They really don't want anyone 'vanilla.' I noticed early on that there's not much room for advancement here. Some people have been in this role for over 11 years! Kidder Mathews wants someone loyal who isn't looking to leave. But hey, if you don't want to job-hop, this could be great. Most people are nice, but watch out for some critical interviewers. One lady got mad at me for being too formal and even took a moment to do her hair during the interview, which was really unprofessional. Oh, and they never let me know they hired someone else, which was surprising and a bit rude since they said they'd decide quickly and were usually prompt with replies.

Got a call from their recruiter, Jon Barnes, a couple weeks after applying online. He was really friendly and asked a few questions about my resume and why I was looking for a job since I didn't have one and it had been 10 months since my last employment. I explained that I took a break from working and was finally ready to get back into it from the ground up (previous role was a Systems Administrator). About a week later, I was scheduled for an in person interview down in their Tukwila office. I was interviewed by the IT manager and the IT director. There were only a couple technical questions but all of them were pretty straightforward. I didn't feel nervous at all as everyone was really welcoming. A couple days after the interview, I was offered the position which I accepted and started the next week.