Feedback from Monzo Job Applicants

As many of them that we feel are right for the job!

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Hmmm. That reply may have seemed funnier if I’d actually gotten the job :thinking:(or not applied)…

I was just wondering how many people you estimate will progress past the interview. If you’re right in saying that a few dozen are being interviewed for weekend COps, then I guess me not getting the job isn’t as terrible as it could’ve been - although I guess that depends on how many others that interviewed with me did get hired.

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It’s a little hard for me to comment on that since I obviously haven’t looked at your specific application, but there are so many different reasons why we might choose to not make an offer. I’m not regularly involved in hiring, but I have been involved in it at various times in the past, and had to make final judgement calls (with the other folks involved, as we have a multiple stage process) that resulted in some people getting hired and some people not, and it is by no means an easy task.

We’ve also been proven wrong in the past. I can think of at least one example where we didn’t offer someone a role, they then came back and applied again further down the line and got it, and now it’s hard to imagine what this company would look like without them (I won’t identify them as I don’t know if it’s something they’ve mentioned here already, but it is someone whose name many would recognise).

So, I guess my point is, it’s important to not try and take it personally when an offer hasn’t been made. There’s just so many variables involved. I know that’s easier said than done.

Also, my previous reply wasn’t intended to be funny. It is the truth. We don’t work on percentages and say - we have 20 people and we will hire 50% of them.

If we interview 20 people and all 20 people absolutely blow us away and ace every different part of the interview with different people, and everybody involved says “Yes, we absolutely must hire this person”, then we’ll make 20 offers. Of course, that’s rarely the case! So on that basis, it’s difficult for me to say how many people will progress past the interview since I don’t know anything about any of the candidates and haven’t looked at their applications.

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It’s impossible not to take it personally, especially when the feedback given is along the lines of “However, they felt you were less strong in showing awareness of the needs of customers and making sure these were always considered in decision making.”. That sentence makes it seem that the ability to find the awareness of the needs of customers is an innate trait that you either have or you don’t have - and it most assuredly isn’t.

Now, granted, this was my very first job application, and I probably could’ve been a bit better at not stumbling over my words in the interview, and the feedback I received does make sense - having painstakingly gone over every response to my interview questions in the days after that email, I can see which answers would’ve given them that impression - if I could repeat the interview (I wish that device in Ctrl-Z was real, it would be exceptionally useful), and change some of my responses, I might have had a much better chance - but interviews aren’t done in retrospect :frowning:

That’s good, and funny wasn’t really the correct term, more like less hurtful… granted, you could hardly know I’d applied and not been made on offer.

Is this allowed? As I said, this was my very first interview, and I would’ve thought that if you got through to an interview (bearing in mind Monzo’s multi-stage process) and didn’t get an offer, then it wouldn’t really be appropriate to try again (for the same role).

Now, the same email saying that they weren’t making me an offer did say that the interviewers ‘also felt your skills and experience might be better suited to a more technical role in the future’. If this means with Monzo, then that’s good - it means that while they didn’t think I’d be suited to the role of COps specifically, they didn’t have a problem with my personality, or how it goes with Monzo’s philosophy and tone of voice. However, the future can be a far and scary place :frowning:

I think my main issue is that it was my first interview, and I really wanted it to go well. I’ve no idea whether or not the interviewers liked me as a person, and they just saw that I may not be best placed in a customer support role, or whether they completely hated me an everything I said was completely wrong. At least Monzo were quick with the rejection email though, so I wasn’t kept stewing. I was a nervous wreck on Thursday and Friday morning…

Liam

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Hi Liam!

I wouldn’t worry too much about it, or read too much into it. Congrats on getting your first interview! I would apply to as many companies as you can find who you think you’d like to work for, and gradually you’ll get better and better at interviews, which are a skill in themselves. Clearly we’re now well off topic from the person with the payable order, but there are quite a few people I know on here who have applied to Monzo with a number of different outcomes, some of whom are very talented indeed and didn’t even come close.

Good luck with your job search!

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My last off topic post, I promise…

I’m still in University, and this job with Monzo was perfect as it was weekend only (and remote) As someone that has trouble interacting with people in real life, a ‘normal’ student job isn’t really for me (such as working in McDonalds or in some other basic serving capacity). I also go back to my Mum’s every summer, so remote is required.

Before find that job with Monzo, there was nothing suitable for me - and I’d checked! It just hurt that I’d not been successful (and the lack of emoji in the rejection email was quite glaring considering every other email was full of emoji).

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Ha ha - that’s interesting. I certainly wouldn’t risk emojis in a rejection letter (even if I was a manager at Monzo), but clearly it’s a matter of taste if you think they’d have helped!

Look forward to hearing when you get that first step. Rejection gets less painful…I once knew someone who wallpapered a room with them :wink:

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Hey Liam,

As others say, don’t sweat it too much. Other jobs that are just as perfect will no doubt come up in the future, and I’m sure Monzo wouldn’t be against an interview again in the future if things change. People change, roles change, and opportunities to develop and grow always come up.

I applied at my current job twice, a year apart, after not getting the job the first time around.

It’s always useful to consider the feedback - and it sounds like Monzo have given you some useful feedback - credit to them on that - I’ve had a lot of interviews where any feedback, rejection or otherwise is just absent. Think about how you can use that feedback to show off your strengths again in the future. Feedback is a gift, after all.

On the last point, about emoji - I really wouldn’t read anything in to that. There are times when more formality is needed, and I think that’s definitely one of them. I’d consider it super unprofessional if I received an email with a job rejection with emojis in it - not even sure which ones you’d use!

You’ll nail the first thing soon - come and share with the community when you do :slight_smile:

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Hey @Liam_W, I’m not going to repeat what others have said, but they speak a lot of sense!

All I will say, is that if you feel you are suited for a role, you should absolutely apply again - There is no “limit” to how many times you can apply for a job, and it might be that the time in between the first and second applications has given you time to grow as a person (or work at a particular skill which is useful for the job).

I know a lot of people who are doing the job they love, having been rejected the first (sometimes even the second time).

So don’t feel down about it, other opportunities will come your way, and next time, you’ll be more prepared for the interview!

On a side note - When I was younger, I wouldn’t go straight into an interview with the job I wanted - I would apply to 2 or 3 other places (and get an interview with them), just so I could hone my skills (being interviewed is absolutely a skill!)

Any the end of the day, if I was offered multiple jobs, I’d be able to chose which one actually suited me best.

Good luck!

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I don’t think I can say anything better than what everyone above has said! :raised_hands:

With regards to secondary applications, we generally wouldn’t look at another application within 6 months of a rejection, and after that we’d obviously be hoping to see that any previous feedback given has been taken on board.

There’s not really anything I can say to make it sting less, but the fact that you’re willing to look at what you could have done better shows the right attitude. I’m sure you will find something great, whether with us in the future or elsewhere!

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I’d apply for this job coz it’s what I do now (I actually do more) and coz I am totes amaze.

I wouldn’t get it though coz forum Trollol :joy_cat:

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Just feeding back my recent experience for the Lead Product QA role. I was not put forward to the third stage but had an interesting experience nonetheless and would like to give my feedback :grin:

I thought the online application form was interesting and challenging questions were raised. Also, I applied for the job because I felt my experience so far is well suited based on the role description- and seemed to line up exactly with what Monzo were looking for!

I feel the response post online application was prompt (approx 1 week), the hangout interview was scheduled two weeks later. Did plenty of research via the detailed blog and impressed with the product, and tech stack, culture etc.

The hangout interview was very interesting to say the least. Interview started on time but I was disappointed on many levels with the second stage interview. Didn’t live up to the expectations I had hoped for.

Based on my personal experience having done interviews myself I believe it helps to have some ice breaker, i.e. “tell us briefly about your background”, “read your cv…”, “what do you know about Monzo, so saw your blog…”, “that talk your doing that’s coming up sounds interesting etc. etc” It just felt the Monzo interviewer wasn’t interested in my background and what I have done so far. All important aspects I would have thought. Felt it was just going through a checklist of questions. Didn’t flow at all.

I felt the interviewer hadn’t read my application or CV. Now, it maybe that he had read it, but it didn’t come across like that unfortunately. I found myself repeating questions I had already answered in the online application or were on my CV.

I felt I gave solid feedback my experience for this role. I have personally hired a new QA team from scratch, how I established regular feedback, my experience setting objectives and progressions plans for team members in a lean, fast paced and dynamic environment. No technical questions re. the role were asked, or how my approach would be at Monzo in establishing QA processes. In fact I have been asked to talk on establishing QA for startups for an international tech community but the opportunity to discuss this never came up,.

When it came to asking questions from my end I think I caught the interviewer off guard, as the responses were not very encouraging and questioned whether the role genuinely matched what was described online.

I asked what were the expectations of the role and the response was “we don’t know what we are looking for”.

I asked about any reservations felt about myself, and the interviewer pointed out that I don’t have enough line management experience. Again, my CV and application showed I have nearly two years experience and responded with a multitude of examples of line management. Again, made me doubt if my CV/application was read?

Was told next day application would not be taken forward - so good response time here. The email stated that my current experience doesn’t match Monzo’s current needs. But when I asked the question in the interview I got a “not sure what we want” response. So slightly confused by the contradiction here. I have asked for feedback where I can look at what I can improve ….am still waiting on this.

Appreciate it might be I bombed the interview or this comes across as sour grapes from me! However, overall I feel that the interviewer, representing the company should know what role entails and experience and skills required. And should show some interest in the candidates. I feel Monzo could be losing out on genuinely good candidates.

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Thanks for posting - and I’m sorry the experience fell short :pensive:

I’m going to feed this back to the hiring team, and hopefully they’ll be able to provide some better feedback with you directly.

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I’ve thought about applying for Monzo, but I always think about the BS on the path and having to move. If Monzo are happy with people working at home, maybe I will reconsider. But contract work is … profitable … until then.

I applied, got a negative response but upon reaching out for more details so that I know what skills I’m lacking I’ve never heard back : (

Appreciate it Simon, def looking forward some decent feedback. I noticed the interviewer took some notes now and then but was also focussed on comforting his pet :cat: at the same time. Which I thought was quite funny and cool at first tbh :slight_smile: I didn’t mind it, but looking back, on a serious note, makes me wonder if attention was 100% on me. Just some feedback to help you guys in the spirit of openness. I feel should be an element of professionalism. I have taken 50-60 interviews to help build my team - and feel its important to bring back the point you are repping your company end of the day.

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I’m sure things can be improved, so it’s good you write about it.

Personally I can’t stand when companies don’t hire you because you’re not qualified enough or something like that. It’s on your damn CV so don’t invite me to an interview in the first place…

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Not to belittle the feedback (which is super important and should be taken seriously), but what was the pet?!

(And, not to be that guy, but did the interviewer check that you were cool with it, no allergies or fears etc?)

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Ah well… it makes you wonder more about why there was a rejection when the interviewers in general, talks about “…the skills that we are looking for doesn’t match what you do!”. This is despite of you are doing that job (which is described in the spec) in your day to day work life and you have given countless examples of the how you approach things at work. Contradiction right?!?.
I have a theory that interviewer make up his mind within 60 seconds if he/ she likes the candidate. Remaining time is the justifying that assumption.
Unfortunately , people can be judgmental and make assumptions in their head.

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It was online video interview via hangout and hence, no fear of allergies :wink: