Yardzen Interview Questions
& Process

The interview process was great, I met with people at different levels. I felt very confident and was even told I was the top candidate. However, a few weeks later, I received an email stating they chose another candidate. Although I'm bummed, I think it's for the best. The people at the company are great and clearly love their jobs!

The interview process was pretty fair and well executed overall. The recruiter was great at keeping me updated, so I never felt left in the dark about hearing back. There were 4 rounds in total: first, a chat with the recruiter, then a video call with an engineering manager. After that, I had a take-home coding challenge, which we then reviewed together with two engineers. The final round was a video call with the VP of engineering. Everyone I spoke with was really nice and direct. They didn't ask anything designed to trick me.

The company owner hit me up on LinkedIn and asked to chat. We had a great talk, and she wanted me to chat with two other people. Since it was the start of the pandemic, all three chats were phone calls. I felt like I had really good conversations and clicked with all three people I spoke with. I was emailing back and forth with them too - first to set up the interviews and then to thank them after. After my third interview, I just never heard anything back. I emailed again to check in and even messaged the owner on LinkedIn again, but she never replied. I got ghosted, and it was rough. It would have been nice to know why I wasn't picked or at least get a rejection email. I've never been so let down by a company, but I felt so strung along and then just tossed aside - I wasn't even worth a rejection notice.

My entire interview process, which included a phone screen and a panel interview with the Co-Founder and another leader, happened in just over a week. Initially, everyone was pretty friendly. But during my panel interview, the Co-Founder was really abrasive and made unprofessional comments and asked inappropriate questions. I emailed the Co-Founder a few days later with my feedback privately, expecting a conversation. I waited over a week for a response, then decided to write this review. After hearing others had similar experiences with the Co-Founder, I think they really need some self-reflection on how they interact with BIPOC candidates and employees, and the company leadership and hiring practices need some serious Diversity & Inclusion training. The Co-Founder started the interview by talking a lot about respecting women and supporting women empowerment, saying I would 'fit in' well with the women at Yardzen. This immediate focus on gender and assumptions was unprofessional. They also seemed surprised multiple times that I am 'very articulate,' referring to my prior assignment and my answers. They also repeatedly said I 'LOOK intelligent,' not that I 'am' or 'seem' smart. As a BIPOC female, telling someone like me that they 'look' smart can play into stereotypes, and their surprise suggests they expected otherwise. I have over 6 years of experience and have never had an interviewer say such things. The Co-Founder also spoke negatively about my previous employer, a competitor, which was unprofessional. At the end, they expressed they were impressed and wanted me to join, offering a salary range. The offer was at best 69% of what I know others in the same role are making, some with less experience. I'm the only BIPOC among those with comparable background and experience. The Co-Founder mentioned two salary bands: one for 'inexperienced' candidates (which they offered me) and a higher one for 'experienced' candidates (salary undisclosed, but likely what others were making). I said I needed time to consider. Then, the Co-Founder directly asked my previous salary, which is illegal in our states. I answered, and they immediately rescinded the offer, saying I was overqualified. The team had my resume long before the interview, so they could have determined my qualifications and salary expectations earlier. This whole experience felt like a waste of my time. The Co-Founder's comments were unprofessional and riddled with micro-aggressions, and the salary offer was insultingly low compared to others. I strongly recommend the Co-Founder and the recruiting team get diversity and inclusion training and professional communication skills training.