A very strange setup. Was approached by a recruiter, rather serendipitously -- was interested in the company already. The recruiter was interested in filling a Customer Success role, although I am realistically overqualified for that -- I am more of a technical PM + they wanted an individual contributor, and I am a manager with many years of experience. The recruiter kept overselling the job, selling it was a great opportunity, and that Customer Success people are basically PMs. I indicated that I was quite interested in PM positions, and the recruiter said it would be in other recruiters' purview, but made no attempt to connect me to those other recruiters. I would guess that recruiters are contractors and aren't willing to share potential commission from candidates. At that point, I was reasonably confident that it wasn't going to be a fit, but figured I would give the interviews a try in case I was wrong. During in-person interviews, the interviewers implied I was overqualified for both the team and the role -- well, I knew that already. (I will say that the setup was quite nice -- my name was written on the whiteboard, and they give you chocolate. It's all about the little things! ) I was asked to do a simple homework after the interview (a couple slides) and got a call shortly saying I was rejected. No explanation was given. To be honest, I thought there would be some interested in making introductions to other teams, but oh well. The sad part is that I was very interested in the company, and I wish I had a chance to talk to the right team.

The recruiter sent me an email to schedule a 30-minute Zoom interview. She provided insights into the role and asked about my background and salary expectations. The questions were straightforward, and I felt the interview went well. At the end of the interview, the recruiter told me that I’d be having an interview with the hiring manager within the next few days, which I associated with good news. However, later that day, I received an email informing me that they had decided not to move forward with my application. While I understand and respect their decision, I believe it's important for recruiters to manage candidates' expectations accurately. If there is uncertainty about proceeding to the next stage with an applicant, it's preferable not to provide false hope by indicating potential progression.