Pana Interview Questions
& Process

So the whole thing had three interviews. First up was a quick phone screen with the recruiter, then a phone interview with the hiring manager. The last part was in person in Denver. They covered my hotel since I was coming from out of state, which was nice. For the in-person, I met with two people for culture stuff, then the director and assistant director for a technical interview, and then two more folks for more culture chat. About a week before, they sent me some data and asked me to whip up a forecast scenario to present. It was to see how I'd forecast and think, and if I could make a forecast that could grow with the company. The whole experience was pretty good. I really liked how much they care about company culture and enjoyed talking to everyone. I was a bit worried at first about not having much data or resources to really succeed, but Pana's mission and culture won me over, and I took the offer and I'm happy with it!

The interview process felt like it went on forever but I did think the questions they asked were thought-provoking. Because I travel a lot, I've dealt with many disastrous travel situations myself, so I could tell what kind of answers they were looking for. The Skype interview was also pretty good and I enjoyed chatting with the interviewer. The questions in that round were way simpler than the written pre-screening ones and I felt like I understood the whole process well. What really annoyed me about Pana though was after this Skype interview, they said I'd hear back by the end of the week about moving forward. I never got any word from them at all (even though I knew I nailed the interview) and got totally ignored when I tried to find out what was happening. After 5 weeks and sending several polite emails asking for an update, I just gave up on the company. I would have genuinely loved to work at Pana and felt like I was a perfect fit for the job. It was disappointing that after I put in over 4 hours into their interview process, they couldn't even be bothered to let me know I wasn't moving forward.

The whole application process was really long. First, there were some initial tasks where they asked grammar questions, why I thought I was a good fit, and then presented three bad client situations and asked how I'd fix them, what I wanted to achieve, and what I'd say to the client. After that, I had to plan a trip for a fake client based on some rules, which involved looking up flights and rental cars, and even calling hotels about early check-in. This took HOURS because the site didn't save my progress, so I had to redo it multiple times. I was told I'd hear back in a week, but it took over a month to get an email to schedule an interview. The email mentioned the pay was $12/hr for 24 hours/week, which is not enough to live on, so you'd definitely need another job. The actual interview was on Skype and was basically the same as the application tasks: planning a trip in detail. The interviewer was nice, and I felt like I did well, but I was later told I didn't get the job. They couldn't give a specific reason because it was a group interview. To top it off, they added me to their mailing list about company growth, which I obviously unsubscribed from since I didn't get the job.

I had a 30-minute screen call with the hiring manager, then a 1-hour call with the person I'd report to. Both calls seemed to go well. The direct-report said they'd set up an in-person interview. I sent a thank you note the day of. I never heard back, so I followed up a week later. Still no response either way. The direct-report mentioned they'd been trying to fill this role for eight months because they're super picky. (The job is still open.) At the time, the process seemed standard. The company culture looks good and the CEO is impressive, but looking back, it feels like a waste of time for what's basically a travel agency.