I received a friendly email asking me to have a phone interview with a Shopify employee. I was directed to a digital platform to schedule my interview which I thought was really efficient and cool.
I scheduled the interview for 10 days later at the "suggested time". I put a decent amount of time in to understanding the company along with their values and culture so that I could be prepared, although, I expected it would be more of a screening call than anything else. I probably did too much research and got too excited about the company and their values. i watched loads of youtube videos of their CEO being interviewed and realised this was a really exciting and brilliant company. By the time the interview rolled around I wanted the job so so much I just turned myself in to a nervous fool....
At the scheduled call time, nobody called. Eventually I received an email from the interviewer saying she was having some technical problems calling Ireland. This was followed up with an email 30 mins later from HR to say that the interview would not happen at this time and that I needed to schedule another. The next available date was 5 days later. So, I accepted this appointment. I then received a further email from HR to say that my interview would have to take place via video due to technical difficulties.
Eventually the interview happened, the girl interviewing me was friendly but clearly in a hurry, she said it would be a *really* quick and casual chat. She asked me about my experience that was relevant for the role and why I applied. So, I answered her that. She then asked some typical HR questions "Tell me about a time when...." I answered these with some relevant examples and she seemed satisfied.
Then, 10 mins in to the 30 min interview she said she knew enough about me and that now it was my turn to ask questions, she said she was an open book and I could ask her anything I wanted about working at Shopify.
So, I asked 6 questions and she answered them super quickly. It felt again like she was in a hurry and wanted to go, so, i said thank you very much..... She then seemed disappointed that i had no more questions and said "OH OK we don't have to use all of the time" - and I could tell by her voice that she was saying I had blown it. It was odd really, I was genuinely curious about Shopify and the culture but i don't think i would ever have been able to fill 20 mins with questions even if i had felt comfortable to continue asking them.
It was a bit strange as she didn't offer up any information on the role and I didn't want to ask as she seemed like the type of person who would definitely have said "Oh, did you not read the job description?"
I think i was extra nervous because I really wanted the job and the lady that interviewed me probably didn't manage it very well. Either way, I got the inevitable and expected rejection email a few days later.