Toast Inc Product Manager Interview Questions
& Process

Went through about 4 or 5 rounds of interviews. Had some good conversations with their Director of Product and some engineers. The last interview was with their India site leader, who apparently came from Amazon. She asked me what I was seeking in my next job. I mentioned I was hoping for a better work-life balance, as I hadn't had a day off in over 14 months at my previous startup, working every day including weekends. Her response was sarcastic, asking if I wanted to join just to 'chill out.' At that point, I knew I didn't want to work for her and politely ended the call, leaving the rest to karma.

I went through the interview process for a Senior Product Manager, Fintech role at Toast over the last couple of months. The initial conversation with the hiring manager was great, and they thought I was a good fit for the Tax-focused PM role. Meeting the whole hiring team also left a good impression. However, the process had significant issues: long delays (over two weeks waiting for role approval), a confusing shift in focus (being considered for both Tax and Accounting roles under one job ID), and poor communication. I completed four out of five final interviews. The last one was rescheduled because the interviewer was out for the rest of the week, and I made myself available right away the following week. After the final round, I was told I was the 'top choice,' got positive feedback, and we discussed benefits and offer timing. Then, I found out the Tax role had been offered to someone else the day before, and a few days later, I was rejected completely. It was disappointing, not just because of the outcome, but because the internal delays, confusion, and poor coordination felt like I never really got a fair shot. I was really invested in joining Toast and felt I was a strong match for the role and culture. I hope this feedback helps improve the process for future candidates.

It was a standard process: first a recruiter call, then a 45-minute chat with the Hiring Manager. The HM seemed to decide on moving me forward within 20 minutes, so the interview wrapped up early. Then came a Panel Interview with 4 rounds, each an hour long. There were 3 interviewers for the case study portion, and we were given 3 case studies to discuss. The format was decent, but the interviewer went through the questions quickly and didn't explain them very clearly. Due to time limits, the last case study only had 5 minutes. The other two interviewers were mostly just there and didn't say much or participate. The remaining rounds were typical meetings with PMs and someone from the Engineering team.