I recently went through the interview process for an Engineering Manager position at Handshake, and unfortunately, my experience was far from smooth and left me feeling extremely disappointed.
Right from the start, the process was plagued with issues. The recruiter handling my application seemed disorganized, and there were multiple instances where communication and coordination fell through. Despite the typical questions asked during the initial phone screen, there was a last-minute change that threw things off track – understandable, but not ideal.
Scheduling the actual interviews was another headache. Not only did it take them days to set it up, but they also managed to overlap with another important interview I had lined up. It was frustrating to see such a lack of attention to detail. Even after pointing out their mistake, it took multiple reminders and over a day to get a rescheduled interview, which was last-minute and inconvenient.
The interview process itself spanned over two days. While the management interview with a director was enjoyable, the second day felt chaotic. I had to go through several interviews, including a panel interview, a cross-functional PM interview, and a technical interview where I was tasked with designing a backend service similar to their product.
However, the most disappointing part came afterward. Despite investing time and effort into the process, the recruiter ghosted me for an entire week and ignored my follow-up email. I was left in the dark until I received an automated message via their ATS, Greenhouse asking for feedback about my experience (assuming I was rejected).
Overall, my experience with Handshake's interview process was marred by a lack of professionalism and empathy. Despite their claims of valuing empathy and helping others find jobs, it was not reflected in how I was treated throughout the process. It's disheartening to see such disregard for candidates' time and efforts, and I hope they address these issues to improve the experience for future applicants.
