I recently had an interview experience with SEMrush that left me concerned about professionalism and potential bias in their recruiting process. A recruiter reached out on LinkedIn to schedule a call regarding a sales opportunity. We confirmed a time, and after one reschedule (which I accommodated), the recruiter cancelled the meeting just 26 minutes before our scheduled conversation. The reason given was that the role required prior experience selling into the LATAM market — something that apparently had not been fully reviewed before outreach. What concerns me most is that I was only evaluated for the LATAM-focused role, despite the company publicly hiring across multiple regions at the time. I have experience selling into several other markets that align with their open roles. It raises the question of why I was only considered for LATAM in the first place. Given my Hispanic last name, I can’t help but question whether assumptions were made about my background or market experience. While I cannot definitively say that bias occurred, the optics and the limited scope in which I was considered made the experience feel dismissive and potentially discriminatory. Additionally, cancelling an already rescheduled interview less than half an hour before the call demonstrated a lack of respect for a candidate’s time. Recruiting is often the first impression candidates have of a company. Unfortunately, this experience reflected poor communication, insufficient vetting prior to outreach, and a process that did not feel equitable. I hope SEMrush reviews its recruitment practices to ensure candidates are evaluated holistically and without assumptions.

I had a call with Talent Adquisition and although my skills seemed to match with the job requirements, the emailed me a few days later to tell me that I had been rejected. They do not give any feedback, other than sending you an email with the typical template, which clearly show how little they care about candidates time. They do ask for feedback to improve their processes (when they do not give feedback themselves).