After my initial call with the recruiter I was quickly taken to the next stage, which was interviewing with 2 of the 4 PMs on the team. When I researched these individuals (as well as the other 2 on the Product team) I discovered they are not traditional PMs; their backgrounds are more in customer service, marketing, implementation, etc. They all started at about the same time and 2 of them came from the same company. No worries, because that shouldn't prevent a more experienced Product Manager from being able to join the team and learning and growing with them. The 2nd interview went well, though it was clear that there were some serious issues with the overall process and a lack of real documentation. Again, not a problem since they spoke of being very collaborative and open to new ideas. And they also made it clear that they themselves were learning new technologies on the job. So with that I was on to the 3rd round which was with the hiring manager. This was very quickly scheduled, so I was really thinking I had a shot here. There was to be a "practical exercise" with this interview that I was told I didn't need to prep for but of course I did my due diligence and went through possible scenarios and the usual PM assignments. At the very last minute the interview was canceled. The email sent was incredibly generic, saying they decided to move on with another candidate and that candidate accepted an offer. I get the distinct impression that I was used as a fall back in case this candidate, most likely an internal one, mulled over whether or not they wanted the job. All of this feels very unprofessional.

I want to share my honest experience interviewing for the Product Manager role. The product team is small (around 4 people). The recruiter first reached out for an initial call where she asked about my background, B2B SaaS experience, GTM work, compensation expectations, working environment, and how soon I could join. After that, I was scheduled for a second call with two members of the product team who would have been my peers. Before that interview, I asked the recruiter what I should prepare. She clearly said: “There is nothing to prepare in advance. The team will be asking about your specific experience as a product manager. The two team members work on the product team and would be your peers if you were to join. Of course, please be sure to ask them any questions you have about the role, what it’s like to work at ChurnZero, etc.” So I went in relaxed and ready to talk about my real experience. In the interview, they asked about: • 0→1 product work • Working with engineering and developers • My past roles and what I’m working on now • Handling ambiguity • Experience with the product development process The conversation went very well. It felt natural, connected, and engaging. I asked them thoughtful questions about company culture and the team. I left the call confident because my experience matched exactly what they were looking for and I felt I performed strongly. Two days later, I received a very generic rejection email saying they enjoyed the conversation, I was well prepared, and that the role was very competitive. No real feedback, nothing specific. Given how closely my background matched the role, it felt strange. After looking deeper into the team, it became clear that most of the current PMs came from internal roles like Customer Success or Implementation, not traditional product backgrounds. It strongly feels like this role is eventually filled internally, and the external hiring process is kept going for appearance. If you’re an experienced Product Manager looking for real growth, progression, and a clear product career path, I don’t think this is the right place. It seems there’s very limited upward mobility, and the PM role is more of a title transition from other functions than a true product organization. In hindsight, being rejected was probably a good thing.