Travelzoo Sales Manager Interview Questions
& Process

The interview process was pretty straight forward and the team appeared interested. They were quick to schedule follow-ups and asked typical interview questions. After meeting in person, everything went south. They delayed the final update for several weeks and then, after several follow-ups, I found out they were moving in a different direction. I have a lot of respect for Travelzoo and wish them the best. At the end of the day, everyone has a different perspective when meeting via Zoom vs. In-Person. Someone can appear different (ex: taller, shorter, looks, age, etc.). Part of the sale is your appearance, and having to go through the process for over 2 months to then find out you probably never had a chance. I probably could have used my time elsewhere. The kicker is, the job is still posted to this day.

Applied via LinkedIn and was contacted by HR in London for a telephone interview. Was selected to go through to the next stage, which was an interview with the Head of Hotels Sales in Manchester. The interview went really well with a good vibe and left feeling very positive. Was invited back for a second interview with the UK MD, which also went really well. He was impressed that I had spent time researching the company prior to the interview and again left feeling positive and believed I was what they were looking for. Was then asked to write a covering letter for the role that would be sent on to the founder as he is heavily involved in the selection process. Sent the letter to HR in London. After about a month, communication started to slip and I wasn't sure what was going on. Was told that the managers who interviewed me wanted me on board but were waiting for the founder to get back to them. Waited until finally received a call with a job offer, however the job offered was different to the one I applied for, but was told it's a national role so it's more high profile. Was told the offer was in the post and once received needed to sign and send back. Was also invited to Baritz to meet the senior managers at a Travel conference. Several days went by and hadn't received the job offer so called HR in London who apologized for the delay and said they hadn't sent the offer because the funding for the role hadn't been agreed. She said the role I applied for had been given to someone else and the role they had created for me hadn't been authorized. Was absolutely gutted. Two months passed and received a call from the Head of Hotel Sales who said the role is available again. He asked if I was interested, after what happened last time. I was a little doubtful but thought why not? He said if interested, I needed to come and meet him asap because they were interviewing this week. Dropped what I was doing and headed to Manchester to meet him. He took me for a coffee and we had an informal chat about what happened last time and the reason the role had become available again. He said he really wants me on board and I wouldn't have to completely start the process again and agreed to call me before Friday that week. Friday came along and I didn't hear anything so sent a text and didn't get a reply. A few days later, received a text to say, 'Hi Nicola, sorry I didn't come back to you earlier. I'm afraid it's looking likely that we are not going to be able to progress things (again). The founder is betting all CVs and is insisting on a foreign language these days. I'll be in touch should anything changes. Sorry, I realised we've messed you about (again).'

The initial interview was phone screening with Travelzoo's internal recruiter. I then had a first interview with two mid-level managers. The second interview with the Managing Director and Head of Operations. Overall the process happened quite quickly but it was quite tricky.