Interviewing at Netflix
A.K.A. dealing with rejection
It was a mild Northern-California winter when, in December 2017, I took a flight from Los Angeles to San Jose, the heart of Silicon Valley, headed to Los Gatos for an interview at Netflix, in their awesome headquarter.
Yes, 2 years have passed now, and that’s about the time it took me to finally fully embrace failure, but most of all deciding to tell (almost) all about it. I always had doubts if telling this experience could harm me professionally, but since I think this misstep (as well as many others) helped me to grow, then it could be useful to others. In the end, getting to the final stage of an interview process with Netflix is already something, just reaching that point has been a self-confidence boost, to some extent.
Step 1 — Phone calls and emails
The position was as product designer for their interactive originals, a new team on a new product. The combination of TV content, heavily based on storytelling, with elements of interaction, was really interesting to me, so I was super-pumped when I received the email from a Netflix recruiter.
After a couple of emails we decided for a first chat over the phone, she was super-nice, asked me a few general questions, about my experiences, but mostly about my expectations and she provided all the info about the process and the next steps.
Then I had a first call with the hiring manager. He also was very nice, our conversation went beyond topics strictly related to the position, I could feel he was interested in knowing more about me besides what he could read on my resume.
At this point, we continued the exchange via email, with several other people, also from the legal dept. because being an immigrant under O1-visa I’d needed a new sponsorship in order to change employer, and that’s a very lengthy and annoying process, so they wanted to be ready in case the thing went through.
Step 2 — Full day interviews, brainstorming, and presentations
The next step has been setting up a full day of on-site interviews, tests and presentations in their headquarter in Los Gatos.
They flew me there from LA, everything has been fully paid, flight, accommodation (very nice), meals, they even set me up with an Uber company-account for moving around once there.
They asked me if I’d rather take a 2-day interview process or squeeze everything in a single day, from morning till late afternoon. I decided for the latter because I wanted to “remove the band-aid” as fast as possible, I was too nervous to undergo a night in between interviews (and honestly, I think it’s been a mistake).
So the day was like this:
- 10:15–11:00 am — interview with Design Manager (same I spoke with on the phone)
- 11:00–11:30 am — interview with Manager of Talent Acquisition
- 11:30–11:45 am — interview Break
- 11:45–12:15 pm — interview with Design Director, Cross-Platform
- 12:15–1:00 pm — Portfolio Review with the team
- 1:00–1:45 pm — Design Exercise with Director of Product Innovation & a Product Designer
- 1:45–2:30 pm — Solo Design Time
- 2:30–3:00 pm — Design Presentation with the same 2 people of the exercise + Manager of UI Engineering
- 3:00–3:30 pm — interview Break
- 3:30–4:00 pm — interview with Vice President of Product Design
- 4:00–4:30 pm — interview with Director of Talent, HRBP Product
So, it was quite a day, as you can see. Lots of individual interviews, a presentation of myself and my work in front of the entire team, a design exercise in 3 steps. Quite a standard in big tech companies like that, but surely not your regular interview.
Preparation
A couple of days before the interview they gave me 3 options of TV shows to choose from for my design test, along with some questions and inputs on what to expect as deliverables of the test.
From that moment to the night before the day, I rewatched the series I picked, I took note and I came up with ideas. Plus I had to make a presentation for the team, about myself and including 3–4 projects of mine highlighting process, problems, solutions, results.
The portfolio review
The team was made of about 6–7 people, from juniors to managers. I presented myself and my work and they really challenged me without restraints. They (rightfully) questioned a lot of the decisions presented in those projects, but being in the morning and at the beginning of the process I still had the energy to argue with ease and not losing my cool.
The design exercise
The first part was brainstorming with two Netflix designers, they were 2 very experienced people, having worked for Apple and such previously. They have been very helpful and supportive. They seemed to appreciate my ideas and inputs and the way I presented them on the whiteboard.
The individual interviews
Most people were really nice, they asked me questions related to their area of operation and answered my questions honestly (that’s been my impression).
The hardest one for me was the one with the Vice President of Product Design. He was nice, but very straight to the point, one of those “no time for bullshit” kind of guys, it was the second to last interview of the day and I was exhausted. I remember panicking (inside) a little bit when after my answer he went like “I need more than this as an answer”. I managed to answer hopefully better, but at that point, I just wanted the whole thing to end asap.
Conclusion
The immediate feedback was good. It seemed like I made it, but in the end, I didn’t. The reason I’ve got was I lacked something more technical, that despite appreciating my creative skills was paramount for them.
To be honest, despite admitting at the time I lacked what they said, I still think I could have done great at that job, combining TV series with elements of interaction and gamification was something I believe I could shine at. Right after that I studied and worked to fill those gaps and I became better at my job, so that’s a good thing.
What did I do wrong?
Deciding to do everything in a single day was a mistake. It was really a lot to take in one day. I was very tense because that chance was really really important for me. I wasn’t happy at my job at the time, I needed to change, mostly for mental health. I was stressed and tired, I had a newborn at home and in serious sleep deficit. Also, I decided that was the last chance to stay in California, if it didn’t go I already decided to leave.
So the stakes were high for me and I wasn’t in the right physical and mental condition to go all-in in one single day probably.
They didn’t tell me who opposed to me to take the job, by I have the feeling it might have been the Manager of UI Engineering, because of the feedback I received afterward (it was something mostly related to that area) and because at the time I still had to master prototyping tools (and I’ve been honest in saying that during the interview), also because I was absolutely worn out when I had to talk with her, almost at the end of the process.
Time to recover
Because of all the things going on in my life that mentioned above, because of all the work the process involved, because I think I could have done great at that job, because it seemed it was going to be a happy ending and it wasn’t, I put too much hope and value in this opportunity. So when it didn’t go as I hoped I took it hard, it really affected my mood for months, I questioned my skills over and over.
But it also pushed me to work harder on myself, to become better and to strengthen my weaknesses. It’s a platitude, I know, but there is a lot to learn from a failure like this, more than from success. Success is a confirmation, failure is a lesson, and you need lessons to grow.
Not even 12 months later, I was back in Milan and I got my current job, which I absolutely enjoy for so many reasons.
I hope this will help someone out there, both preparing for an interview or dealing with rejection. I’m always interested in knowing your experiences and answer any questions, so don’t hesitate to leave a comment.
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My new book “Designing Digital Products for Kids”! Out December the 4th!
Learn the secrets to design successful digital products for children.
You’ll find answers to all your questions regarding the industry, and its peculiarities in 📐 UX design, 🎨 UI design, 🔍 user testing, 📈 business strategies, and much more.
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