Zycus Product Manager Interview Questions
& Process

So I interviewed at Zycus in November, and it took me a little over 3 weeks. First, HR called me about the product manager role, asking about my current salary, expectations, and my current responsibilities as Product lead. Then, my interview was scheduled with the Director of products since HR was fine with my expectations. I passed the next rounds until the final salary negotiation. Just before that, HR called again to confirm my expectations, saying they fit their band for a product manager. HR even tried to convince me to resign before discussing the offer. My evaluation was for the PM designation. On the salary negotiation day, they offered an associate position, and that's when things got weird. HR said, 'Because you don't have an MBA, we can't give you the Product Manager designation or your expected CTC.' Instead, they offered 1 lakh more than my current CTC plus 10% variable. I argued that I was interviewed for PM and senior positions, and we agreed on the CTC, so why this low offer? HR then claimed my years of experience didn't match their criteria and that all their PMs have 5+ years of experience and a full-time 2-year MBA is mandatory. I pointed out they should have said this earlier, as I spent a lot of time interviewing and did a case study over the weekend. HR apologized, saying they got confused because my resume mentioned a post-graduation program and they differentiate between that and an MBA. I questioned why they didn't clarify this during the initial screening and why I should accept a lower designation and CTC than agreed upon. HR stated that she and the director interviewed me for PM, but the senior hiring committee mandated an MBA for the PM role, hence the APM offer and associated CTC. I asked why the hiring committee, not the director, decides my role and expressed my strong disagreement with the offer, calling it nonsensical and about 40% lower than agreed. I told them to convey to their committee that if they only value MBAs over skills and use such tactics to get cheap talent, they can keep the offer. This whole experience shows how irresponsible and hypocritical their HR team is, disrespecting experienced candidates' time. Despite my busy schedule, I dedicated significant time to the interview, only to face these cheap tricks at the end. If you're a PM or senior, don't waste your time interviewing here.

So the process had 4 rounds. They came to our campus for recruitment. First, there was a 20-minute aptitude test, then a group discussion where each group got a different topic, mostly about current issues and the role of youth. After that, everyone got 30 minutes to come up with a unique business idea. This was followed by a personal interview where they asked questions about my resume and business idea. The students who got selected then had two more rounds at the company. Overall, it was a great experience because the recruiters were really chill.

It took 2 months to hear back. HR scheduled calls last minute without confirming. First was a general screening, then a 30-min technical interview where the interviewer seemed uninterested and was doing their own work. They asked questions just for the sake of it and didn't listen. I felt I answered well, but when I asked questions, they gave the same generic answers. They didn't seem to know about Agile or Safe.