I recently interviewed with Upstart for a Senior Product Manager role. While I appreciated the opportunity to interview and meet the team, I have mixed feedback about the process: Pros: - Comprehensive interview process allowing interaction with various stakeholders - Interesting case study that showcased real product challenges Areas for improvement: - Communication gaps after completing multiple rounds and case study - Interview questions sometimes felt disconnected from actual job requirements - Lack of closure/feedback after significant time investment I would encourage the recruiting team to provide clearer communication and timely feedback to candidates, especially those who progress through multiple rounds.

I went through a total 7 interviews with folks from a variety of disciplines, including two touch points with the recruiter. I was willing to meeting with so many people because of recommendations from former colleagues and friends who currently work there. Scheduling this was onerous, but Upstart was able to make it work and get me time with each person. The process included a 2-4 hour "take-home" assignment to create a pitch/document for some outlined criteria in the Auto Retail space. Despite completing this, it was never reviewed or discussed. I asked in interviews for feedback, and was told it had not yet been looked at. As of the time a decision was made, I heard it was still not reviewed at all - showing a disrespect for my time interviewing with Upstart. Some of the interviews covered content that was already covered by the take-home assignment, so I had to rehash things I'd already written/created. One of the folks I met with told me they did not like working in the space/sector that they were the lead for. They were the active hiring manager. When asking questions about what the first few months would look like for a successful candidate, I received a lot of ambiguous answers, which I pressed more into and some interviewers became somewhat defensive. Interviews with the technical leads and design went exceptionally well - those groups seem to be operating and executing well. I received a comment that I was "overly casual" despite Upstart providing interview materials that recommended being casual and open. This was very confusing and seemed to run counter to what I was told to expect at the start of the process. Overall, candidates seem to being sold a potential future org state, rather than a currently well-operating product team.