Saks Global Interview Questions
& Process

The whole process was really solid and professional. Everything went off without a hitch, and they kept me in the loop at each step. The people I spoke with knew their stuff, were cool, and seemed genuinely into figuring out if I had the technical chops and how I'd tackle problems. It was a good time overall, and I felt pretty good about it.

The interview process for this role felt excessively long given the position's level and compensation. It involved an initial recruiter screening followed by six distinct interview rounds. These included discussions with the hiring manager, a skip-level manager, a panel interview with two team members, a session with someone who previously held this role, a culture-fit interview conducted by an HR Business Partner, and finally, an interview with a cross-functional team member. Notably, after the third interview with the skip-level manager, the subsequent interviews seemed to focus more on assessing personality and alignment with the team, resembling 'vibe checks.' However, it would be beneficial to familiarize yourself with the company's values before the culture-fit interview.

First, there was a screening call with the recruiter that was pretty easy, they asked about my day-to-day tasks and my background. The next step was a live SQL coding assessment on Karat, which was super hard, and I felt like there wasn't enough time to finish the questions. The interviewer was also not very nice. I don't think the questions were appropriate for the role, like you'd need to be a data engineer or have a CS degree to get them. I had to follow up twice with the recruiter to find out they didn't move forward with me. I felt like this was unprofessional and I probably wouldn't have heard back if I hadn't emailed them.

I had a phone screen with the talent acquisition team first, which was pretty standard. Then I met with the hiring manager, and honestly, it was the worst interview experience ever. She kept cutting me off to ask new questions before I could even finish answering the previous one. It felt really rude and made it impossible to get my thoughts out. I knew pretty quickly I didn't want the job. I asked about the company culture and team dynamic, and she had nothing good to say. She even mentioned that people leave because they find the environment tough, which was a huge red flag. I thought she didn't like me by the end, but then they emailed about the next steps. I decided to withdraw because all the warning signs were there, and it just wouldn't have been a good fit.