I've been in tech for 15+ years, worked for some household name brands and interviewed at several FAANG companies. Audible reached out to me via LinkedIn about an opportunity that would require relocation. The first two rounds were standard, but the tech round was one of the worst interview experiences of my career. I usually don't write such long reviews, but I know how challenging the market is so I share this here so PMs can consider whether it's worth it to interview at Audible. I have solid Sr. PM experience, but there was nothing in either my resume or the job description to suggest an engineering or computer science background would be required for this role. It was not categorized as Technical PM, just PM. Before doing this interview, I went to coffee with my former boss, who was a Product Director at Amazon, and did a practice session with a very senior Technical AI PM from igotanoffer.com. Both of them described an interview protocol that was extremely different from what I encountered. When I circled back with the coach from igotanoffer, he said what I had been put through was an extremely difficult technical round that would be difficult for an experienced Technical PM to pass, and that some of the questions, such as the exact version of the ML model we were using, even a computer scientist would probably just look up vs. memorize. Talking to the interviewer herself was like talking to a robot on a mission to find every potential flaw in the candidate. She made no effort to start the call with any sort of real introduction or pleasantry. When I told her I could not see her because I couldn't move my video icon on Amazon's interviewing software, instead of simply scooting over 6 inches and saying "Ok can you see me now?" she said flatly, "Well, you don't really need to see me. I can see you. And you can hear me." So, I spent the 45 minute interview talking to the top of her head, which was the only thing that was not cut off on the screen, while she looked at me. Because she couldn't empathize that from a human level, that interviews are already stressful, and it would be nice to simply be able to mutually see each other and simply move over six inches. Within the first 15 minutes of the interview, she had asked questions that would be appropriate for engineering interviews, not a non-tech PM. I knew clearly early on that there was a mismatch in her expectations and my experience. I knew I wouldn't be getting an offer. It has been my experience that most top-consumer facing brands don't want candidates to leave feeling terrible, so even if a candidate doesn't do well and it's clear early in the conversation it's not a fit, they'll treat them with dignity so as not to damage the brand. Usually, in these cases, they pivot to having a simply conversation instead of continuing to grill the candidate. This was not the case here. I had answered her first question about a project I had joined in the middle because I thought it would be relevant to AI. She asked me questions about aspects of the project I only would have been involved in if I had been part of the project from Day 1. Instead of having the opportunity to pivot to talk about another project after it was clear that the types of questions she wanted answers to hand't been part of this project, she just drilled a thousand layers deep on this particular project. We discussed it for the entire 45, no 46 minutes, with increasingly difficult questions even though it was clear to me in the first 15 minutes I had both failed the interview and chosen the wrong project. It was like beating a dead horse. Just why? I almost ended the interview several times but didn't just to be polite. In retrospect, the situation was absurd and I should have just left. She apparently relished finding my flaws so much she needed to take 46 of the 45 minutes allotted for the interview to do so. She did then stay on for 3 more minutes during which I asked some perfunctory questions. This experience left a terrible taste in my mouth. Other Amazon employees told me I clearly had not been set up for success. Everyone knows how much time candidates are spending prepping for interviews these days. I used to be a big fan of Audible, but now it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I was already paying for a music service that now has audiobooks and seems to be outcompeting Audible, so on the bright side, cancelling my Audible subscription will save me some $.
