Engineering Manager Interview Experience

I had a first product design screening round, then went into the full loop, which included coding, another product design, a project retro, and a people management round. The process felt very self-led, especially in the technical rounds, where they gave me a board or editor and expected me to drive the discussion without much prompting. I was told that many engineering manager candidates tend to score higher on the technical side and lower on the management side, but in my case, it was the opposite. I failed the coding round and the full-loop product design round, which really surprised me, since I felt I had answered the product design interview more comprehensively than the screening one. I actually came out of the interviews feeling quite confident I would get an offer, but did not.

I had a first product design screening round, then went into the full loop, which included coding, another product design, a project retro, and a people management round. The process felt very self-led, especially in the technical rounds, where they gave me a board or editor and expected me to drive the discussion without much prompting. I was told that many engineering manager candidates tend to score higher on the technical side and lower on the management side, but in my case, it was the opposite. I failed the coding round and the full-loop product design round, which really surprised me, since I felt I had answered the product design interview more comprehensively than the screening one. I actually came out of the interviews feeling quite confident I would get an offer, but did not.