I was really excited about the Program Manager role at Pinterest and felt that my skills were very closely aligned to the needs of the position. The first interview was the typical 30-minute phone screen with a recruiter to gauge my level of relevant experience and discuss the role in more detail. The recruiter informed me at the end of the call that she would like to advance me to the next stage. The second interview was a 30-minute meeting with the direct manager of the role. The interviewer spoke very quickly the entire time and didn’t seem interested in assessing my professional experience and ability, but rather my knowledge of the different services and specialties that the partner program provides. I was asked to define six one-word terms in a rapid-fire nature. I’m an introvert and I have anxiety disorder so I struggle with being put on the spot. It was initially unclear whether I was being asked to define what these specialties do in the context of the business or what comes to mind when I think of that particular term. I wasn’t given much context and it seemed like asking for more would be “cheating” or a waste of time so in most cases I tried to relate the terms to my personal experience since I haven’t worked on a product in this category before. The whole conversation was very rushed. Near the end of the interview came frequent verbal time checks, e.g. “5 minutes left”, “3 minutes left”, “2 minutes left, what other questions do you have for me?” I felt so hurried that I only asked two questions and then decided I should wrap up since this person seemed ready to move on with their day. The interview ended with an acknowledgement that I had the skills and experience that they were looking for in a role, which were 1) seeing projects through from a state of ambiguity to completion and 2) proficiency in SQL. It ended abruptly with, “Thanks for your interest in Pinterest.” After the interview I felt really uncomfortable and disappointed. I felt that I was unfairly assessed based on knowledge that I would quickly be able to pick up on the job and was not part of the qualifications in the job description. Not surprisingly, I received an email from the recruiter the next day saying they decided not to move forward. I would suggest that as Pinterest continues to evaluate candidates for this role and others, that they focus more closely on the work that that person has done and that qualifies them for the role. A request for a work sample or written response to a set of prompts would be a perfectly appropriate step in the process in order to eliminate bias and ableism in the interview process. I may sound like a poor sport, but for someone who is a high performer but struggles with high-pressure interviewing tactics, it’s disappointing to feel like I wasn’t set up for success for a role that was a great fit for me. With all of this said, I appreciate the opportunity I was given to interview for the role and wish the best for Pinterest.

I received an email from the recruiter within the same week of applying. The recruiter was amazing! So friendly and answered all of my questions. Second step: interview with a person that was covering for the hiring manager. Not very professional and not very knowledgeable of the position.