LinkedIn PM Interview Experience
By: Pm Candidate
Tags: LinkedIn, Interview, Pm Interview Questions, Recruiting, Product Management

LinkedIn PM Interview Experience

I went through a very frustrating interview experience with LinkedIn over the last few months. I am writing this article with two goals in mind:

1)I wanted to find out if this is normal and if others have been through this kind of experience

2) I am hoping that there is some learning in my suffering and frustration for others

I will include all dates as best as I can recollect so that you can get a sense of how long and painful the process was. But, I will anonymize all the recruiter and interviewer names, as the intent is not to embarrass anyone, but shed a light on the interview process. I am also using a temp account to share this post, so as to not embarrass myself :)

A LinkedIn recruiter reached out to me during the 3rd week of March, and asked if I would be interested in a PM position. I have always admired LinkedIn as a company and wanted to work there. So, I was quite thrilled to be given a chance to interview. The recruiter, as part of the initial phone call, she asked some good screening questions to understand my background, my understanding of LinkedIn, etc. She also explained the process at LinkedIn: 1 phone interview and if you get through that, 4 in-person interviews at their offices. I told her I needed a few weeks to prep for the interview.

(I am writing a different blog post on how I prepared for the interview, I will post the link here)

After preparing, I scheduled my phone interview for the 2nd week of April. The interviewer asked a lot of questions on how to improve retention on LinkedIn Premium. Near the end, the interviewer said and I quote: “those answers are all good, in fact, we are already following many of the ideas”. So, I figured it was a good sign. I didn’t hear back for more than a week after that call and I emailed them asking for feedback. Recruiter called me back and said that they wanted to do one more phone screen — she said this happens very rarely and asked if I was okay to do it. I said of course, I am happy to do another interview. After another 2 weeks of waiting, emailing, not hearing back and more confusion, I finally got another phone interview in the 1st week of May. All this time, I wondered what really happened in the 1st phone interview — what did I say or not say that caused me to have to go through one more round.

Anyways, the second phone interview question was mostly around “describe your greatest achievement as a PM”. I was well prepared for this and gave what I thought was a good, structured answer. Again, the interviewer sounded very pleased and wished me good luck. I crossed my fingers and waited to hear back from the recruiter. This time, I got a response within 3 days and it was very positive. They wanted to move forward with an onsite interview. They sent me details on the format and connected to the next recruiter.

Let’s call the 2nd recruiter Jane Doe. She also congratulated me on making it to the onsite and helped in scheduling the interview. Right in the beginning of my interaction with Jane, I noticed that she was not always prompt in responding and blamed her email system a couple of times. I didn’t give it much thought — I was excited to be interviewing at LinkedIn.

After a couple of email reminders, Jane Doe scheduled me for an on-site during the last week of May and I finally finished the 4 on-site interviews in the 1st week of June. At the end of the interview, Jane Doe connected with me on video and said we will let you know the feedback in a week. So, I waited for a week and when I didn’t hear back emailed her asking for the feedback. I didn’t get any response for days and then weeks.

I had left LinkedIn office in great spirits thinking there is a possibility I could work here. When I didn’t hear back after a week, I began to believe that the interview had not gone well. I emailed Jane Doe a few more times and got nothing back and finally gave up hope. I assumed the worst — but was confused that the recruiter would not even respond to an email after I went through so much effort to interview at LinkedIn. I felt very bitter for not being acknowledged and not getting any closure.

Then, out of the blue, in the middle of July, I got a cryptic email from Jane Doe saying she wanted to talk to me on the phone. I thought it was strange that she wanted to reject my candidacy on the phone after 5 weeks of email silence. But, I thought may be I could get some good feedback for the future, so I set up a time to talk to her. She ignored the window I gave her and called me at random times when I was in meetings. Finally, after about 4–5 missed calls back and forth, she called me and said that they wanted to do 1 more interview with an Exec. I was quite surprised.

After 5 weeks of silence, suddenly another interview. The dying embers of hope of working of LinkedIn were once again fanned by a mid-summer gust. I was in an emotional quandary.

I tried my best to erase my earlier feelings of betrayal and heartbreak and set to work again. I went through all the preparation material, this time focusing on wondering what I could do better. Where did I fail to impress the interview panel— what does this mysterious exec want to evaluate? Is it product sense, communication, leadership, strategy? What do I need to demonstrate to get this job?

The fact that an Exec at LinkedIn wanted to interview me was very exciting, but at the same time I wondered what is they couldn’t evaluate after 6 interviews. Why was I going through 2 phone interviews, 4 on-site and an exec interviews, when the process was supposed to be 1 phone interview and 4 on-site? Why was there such a long delay in the interim? No answers were forthcoming.

So, I suffered through various emotions and preparation materials for another week. I also took 2 days off from work — I wanted to give this my best shot. Once again, the interview day arrived and my spirits were high and I was ready to impress the Exec. I waited for the exec for 8 excruciating mins after the start time and was about hang up on the conference, when she finally dialed in. She didn’t apologize for being late — she jumped right into it.

The questions were very similar to the three earlier rounds of interview. But the exec didn’t give nearly as much time to answer the question — she seemed pressed for time and wanted me to hurry on. We jumped through every aspect of being a PM. Her subordinates had taken 6 interviews to cover the same ground, and it seemed like she was racing to cover everything in this short interview. And, she managed to finish the interview ahead of time. It was supposed to be 30 mins — but the actual interview lasted less than 20 mins. I ended the conference with mixed emotions and more confusion — I had no idea what she thought of my responses.

Again, I waited to hear back from Jane Doe, the recruiter. No email or communication for a week — I send her an email again requesting feedback. Ten days after the interview, I finally get a call from her. She says sorry we decided not to move forward, the exec didn’t like my responses.

I was heart broken and devastated for the 2nd time in 2 months for the same company. At least, this time there was closure. The process which had started in mid-March had finally ended in 2nd week of August. After 7 interviews, numerous emails, phone calls and days and days of preparation, it was all for naught.

Throughout these 4 months, I have been on an emotional roller coaster — riding the lows and highs of the whims of these interviewers and recruiters. I wonder if this is normal? LinkedIn is supposed to be a company that helps every other company set the right standards for hiring and if they are this messed up and make their candidates go through these kinds of dramas, what hope is there for others? Or was I just absurdly unlucky in having encountered a recruiter who doesn’t respond to a candidate for 5–6 weeks at a time?

The process has taken a toll on my personal life, professional life and I cannot imagine this is doing any favor to my health. My classmates who are at Google, Facebook, Amazon and Apple haven’t gone through anything like this. They all went through tough interviews, but nothing so haphazard in terms of recruiter responses and uncertainties. I wonder if they are the exception or if what I went through was the exception? Can you add your comments to the blog and let me know?