NerdWallet Marketing Interview Questions
& Process

The interview process is tough. It feels like if you have neurodiversity or think you might, you're set up to fail. What they asked me to prep versus how the interview was actually structured made it super hard to move forward. This meant all the prep I did for my second interview was useless. They also scheduled my second interview without asking for my availability – they sent an email at 3am and had it booked by the time I got online. This was an early sign that maybe this isn't the best place if you care about work/life balance.

My experience at NerdWallet made me think they should rethink their recruiting. First, I had a screening call with a recruiter where we discussed the role's scope and scale, my background, and the hiring process. I was deemed a fit and was told I'd get a take-home case study. After that, I'd have a call with the hiring manager to go over my work. The next day, I got the exercise: THREE substantial business problem case studies. I spent three days on it, submitting a 20-slide deck with analysis and recommendations. I felt three cases was a lot before even talking to the hiring manager, especially since I didn't know if it was a cultural fit or have first-hand role details. Still, I put a lot of energy into it, even having fun and getting feedback from former strategy consulting colleagues. I told the recruiter I submitted it, but got no response or acknowledgement. After a week, I followed up and was told 'I'll be in touch,' with no timeline or feedback. Two weeks after submitting, I was told they weren't moving forward because they'd made an offer to someone further along. I asked for feedback given my 10+ years of experience and thorough analysis, but just got a one-sentence reply. No thanks, no feedback on my work. Frankly, it's unacceptable and disrespectful of candidates' time. I suggest reducing the case exercise quantity/complexity, or moving them after the hiring manager call. Also, don't assign lengthy exercises if you're close to an offer. To NerdWallet leadership, recruiters should be more responsive and polite. The emails were brief and made me unsure about the company culture. Candidates are willing to do the work, but it's a two-way street, and you'll lose good candidates if you don't change.

It was a pretty tough interview process, with several skills tests and interviews with 9 people from the organic marketing team, plus the recruiter. They were pretty direct and asked a lot of questions. I actually think their intensive interview process is a good thing. I just wish they had been clearer about the role earlier on. You don't learn much about the job or the team structure until you're pretty far into the process and have already spent a lot of time on it. They basically spend a lot of time interviewing you, but don't really give you much info back.