The interview focused heavily on asking me to list large management mistakes I had made. There was strong pressure to come up with multiple “big failures”, and it was even mentioned that other candidates proudly listed a lot of serious mistakes. I fully believe everyone learns from their own mistakes. At the same time, I think a careful, responsible manager often avoids big failures through good judgment, preparation, and early intervention. Not having a long list of major mistakes should not be treated as a negative or as a lack of experience. The process felt biased towards a very specific idea of what “good management experience” looks like, rather than assessing real leadership, decision-making, and long-term impact. Overall, it wasn’t a balanced or realistic way to evaluate an experienced engineering manager.

1 hour chat with Senior Tech Leader asked standard questions for this type of role, question areas presented ahead of the interview to allow time to prep and chat was very relaxed and not intense with plenty of time ask questions and push for further detail on the role