New Balance Interview Questions
& Process

So I applied and then a recruiter hit me up for a first round interview. The day after that, I had a second interview with my potential boss. The chat went really well, I felt like I could talk openly and felt super confident answering everything she asked. Then, like a whole month went by with no word, so I emailed the interviewer and the recruiter to check in. The next day, I got a cookie-cutter email from the recruiter saying I wasn't moving forward. I was really bummed out about how they handled the communication and the whole recruiting process. When did it become normal to just ghost candidates who put in so much effort to prep for interviews?

I applied online again, even though I've applied before. I had my initial screening and then a team interview, and I was told I'd be waiting for the on-site. HR mentioned they wanted to hire by October 1st because that's when track season starts, but the panel interviewers said December. They really needed someone urgently. I've done this job elsewhere without issues, but I get the vibe that New Balance wants you to feel like you're struggling, even though they market themselves as a laid-back place, which they aren't. I can see through what happened, and if I weren't as skilled, I'd think it was my fault. But it wasn't. So, if you're really good at what you do, don't expect to get the job. They seem to want someone with soft skills for this role because HR said the current person lacks them, but when you demonstrate both strong soft and technical skills, you get passed over. It doesn't make sense. To make a long story short, the HR person handling the screening is quite forgetful. They actually forgot to include me in one of the meetings, and if I hadn't reached out, I wouldn't have even known the interview was scheduled for that day. I had to contact them again to find out I was rejected, and they said, 'Oh, I thought I already updated that in Workday. We're moving on.' Given my skills and confidence, I absolutely know it wasn't me. During the panel interview, one of the three interviewers made the experience unpleasant. They were clearly intimidated by my abilities. I could have contributed a lot to New Balance, but unfortunately, the rudeness and forgetfulness of their team made it not worth my time or effort to continue. This will be my last time applying to New Balance. I really wanted to support them as a local business, but they are not good for my well-being, so I'm done! Their loss.

The interview process was tough but useful. The technical rounds really dug into my problem-solving skills, debugging abilities, and knowledge of the field, and the managerial round was all about how I communicate, work in a team, and handle stress. Every part of it made me think about what I'm good at, what I need to work on, and how I deal with different scenarios. I liked that they mixed deep technical stuff with questions about my soft skills, letting me show off both my technical chops and my ability to work with others, stay cool under pressure, and tackle problems step-by-step. It was a great learning experience and made me feel more ready for future interviews.

I had a screening call with TA, which was followed by an initial interview with the hiring manager. They were pretty quick to set up the screening call. The screening call went okay, but I felt like their answers to my questions about company culture and the lack of flexibility for hybrid work weren't very specific. The interview with the hiring manager was really unimpressive. They were over 10 minutes late, showed no energy, and clearly hadn't reviewed my CV because of things they said about my current job. Despite this, I was asked to move to the final round of interviews, which involved a case study presentation. They were willing to switch it to Teams, which was originally planned to be in-person. Then, their true colors came out: I got seriously ill the week of my interview and had to go to the hospital. I asked TA if we could reschedule, and they moved it by one day, but there was no expression of sympathy. I ended up being too sick to do the final interview. I had other offers from companies that were much more understanding, so I decided to cancel. I explained the situation and thanked TA and the HM for their time. All I got back was a notification that they had canceled the interview, with no 'good luck' or 'get well soon'. Looking back, it feels like I dodged a bullet. It didn't give me a good impression of the work culture at New Balance.