Initially was contacted by a recruiter via LinkedIn, which lead to a phone conversation with that same recruiter. That conversation was more so for me to learn about the company and position, which was helpful. After doing more research on Zillow and the position, I let the recruiter know I was interested in interviewing.
It took the recruiter at least two weeks to get back to me, and during that time I followed up with her several times just to get a response. I'm not sure I would have heard back from her had I not been a bit pushy. However, this method worked and I did receive an interview.
Once it was time for my interview, I went to the lobby as I was instructed and checked in with the front desk. The girl I checked in with was very disinterested and not very helpful. I waited in the lobby for 15 to 20 minutes before the recruiting assistant got me, and took me into a small 2 to 3 person room. She also seemed very disinterested, wrote her number down on a whiteboard if I needed anything, and then told me the person I would be interviewing with would be in soon and that she would be back to follow up after my actual interview was complete.
I waited in the room for 5 to 10 minutes, and then the manager came in to interview me. The first part of the interview was typical, and I was just asked questions about my experience and resume. The manager was a bit stiff but nice, and that portion of it went fine and there were no surprises.
The next part was the test. I was given a computer with Excel open, which had three different marketing/SEM questions, each on different tabs. The first was a table that had sales numbers of different shoes throughout the years, and I was supposed to identify the trend. The second had questions about generic PPC stuff (calculate CTR, conversion rate etc) and the next had more B2B style questions, which were pretty vague.
I was given 30 minutes to complete the test, and the manager came back in and went over it with me. I was honest and said I struggled with finding the answer to the trend question, and her response was that there is no right answer. Would have been good to know before I started, as the way it was written completely implies there is one. That started the test review off on the wrong foot, but I recovered well enough on the other two questions.
After that, she left it to me to ask her questions about the role and the company, and then let me know the recruiter would be back to get me and would tell me about next steps. I couldn't get a great read on the manager, but I felt my interview went well enough to have a shot at another.
After that I waited for the recruiter to come and get me. I sat patiently for 10 or so minutes, and then started to get concerned no one was actually coming to get me. I waited a bit longer, and a random employee comes in and asks who I am, I let him know and he went to hunt down the recruiter. I waited another few minutes, and then tried to call the number she left me on the whiteboard. She failed to inform me how the internal phone system works, so after failing to get in touch with her (and not wanting to call random employees on accident) I stopped and waited a bit longer.
After at least 20 minutes, I decided I couldn't wait any longer, as it was the end of the working day and I was afraid she just went home. I walked across the office with little idea where I was going, and made it back to the front desk which had another person now manning it. I let him know what happened, and then he tried to get in contact with the recruiter.
After another 15 or 20 minutes of waiting in the lobby, the recruiting assistant finally came back and let me know the initial recruiter that got in touch with me was suppose to be the one to get me for the follow up, but she was on business trip. I received no apology, and was told I would hear back from them after the holidays. This was before Thanksgiving, so I wasn't really sure what that meant.
I left the office with a really bad taste in my mouth, but gave myself a 50/50 shot to get a second interview. After not hearing back for weeks, I emailed the original recruiter after Thanksgiving to follow up, and I received a generic "we're going with other candidates" message within an hour. So again, had I not followed up I wouldn't have even received a response.
I'm sure Zillow is a great place to work, and the reviews on Glassdoor and other publications support that. However, the interview process was disrespectful, unorganized, and the test I was given was confusing and poorly worded. This may all just be because of the recruiting department, or the specific recruiting team I worked with. However, even had I received another interview I don't know if I would have taken it, as the whole thing gave me a bad feeling about the company.
