I applied online. The process took 1 week. I interviewed at Toast Inc (Boston, MA) in Sept 2018
Interview
I had a quick phone screening with a really friendly interviewer who assured me that I would be a good fit for the role despite not having work experience in tech or the restaurant world. After speaking with him for about 8 minutes, he sent me an email to set up a time for my next interview. I went in to meet with/interview with my potential manager a few days later. The employees at the front desk and the HR rep who gave me a quick tour were nice and welcoming, and I really liked the office space and location. I was sat in a room and told that my interviewer would be in shortly (which he was not... I waited for him for about 20 minutes). When he arrived, he was friendly enough and started with some basic questions about how I had heard of the company and how I had ended up in Boston. Then, after chatting for a few minutes, he asked me the same questions that I'd been asked during the phone screening (if I had any background in tech or restaurants). When I answered the same way I had during the first round, this interviewer did not assure me that I could still be a good candidate. He told me that they were really looking for tech-savvy people for the role, which was a surprise to me as I had been told the exact opposite during the phone screening. The potential manager interviewing me visibly lost interest in anything I was saying, and looked at his computer screen for the remainder of the interview. He went through the motions, but I felt pretty unimportant sitting there and answering his questions when I could already tell I'd get a rejection email the next day. It was embarrassing for me because I'd thought I had a chance and was excited about that. So, the moral of the story here is that while the HR rep who did my phone screening was lovely to talk with and seemed like a very positive person, I think he misled me a little bit and probably shouldn't have let me go on to the next round because I was actually missing the background the company was looking for.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What new gadgets or systems have you been toying around with recently?
Thank you for this thoughtful and thorough review. I appreciate you taking the time to share this feedback. I'm sorry that we did not set you up for success. We should have aligned internally before beginning the recruiting process. I sincerely apologize and will make sure that we are fully aligned moving forward. - Mike Brown, VP Talent