Interviewed January - February 2024.
Forrester’s interview process was enlightening. I was approached by a Talent Sourcer on LinkedIn because of my successful professional sales experience and background in market research, CX, professional services, advertising, entrepreneurship and SaaS at top notch companies. (my original belief) Although I was concerned by the overwhelming number of negative Glassdoor reviews from the employees and the 3.1 rating, I agreed to schedule time with their recruiter for an interview. The company offers valuable products, solutions and services. It appeared the company was going through a lot of changes that employees weren’t happy with. The common complaint I found interesting while reading was lack of diversity. I am an educated woman of color who is employed and is serving in a lead sales role at a CX/MRX/Professional Services tech company. Of course, I was curious and did my research. My findings? The accusations appeared to be valid. Forrester has opportunities to improve in diversity. My hope was the leaders recognized the problem and were addressing this.
My interviews were very easy. The recruiter and I spoke about the vacant sales positions. We both agreed the Senior Account Manager role could be a great fit. The person serving in the role will work closely with VPs and C-Suite for Fortune 1000 companies. That is what I do now. I was told the requisition for this role had not been opened yet. They were in the preliminary stage and just started interviewing. After waiting for a week and a half, I interviewed with the hiring manager who requested me to meet with her manager, the Vice President. Since there were several changes made within Forrester, I asked the VP about his vision for the sales organization. All the conversations I had with the team were enjoyable. We chatted and took time to establish a rapport. No questions for the sales role required much brain power to answer. Not sure what they learned from these interviews. In between my two interviews the recruiter informed me they had tons and tons of people interviewing because of the tech layoffs and the ideal candidate would live in Cambridge, MA. I live in the Southeast which is no where near Massachusetts. Again, they approached me for their sales jobs.
I was not moved to the next step in the process. The offer was extended to another candidate. The decision did not surprise me. What did surprise me was the timing for the news. The news came shortly after my second interview. Since there were 2 additional steps (meet with Account Managers and give a presentation), they must have already selected the candidate before my first or second interviews. The requisition for the role wasn’t opened until days after my first interview with the hiring manager. My second interview with the VP was 9 business days after my first interview with the hiring manager. I believe I was placed into the interview process to show their efforts in improving DEI at Forrester. That’s my humble opinion based on my research and experience. I also believe when it’s time to hire for the current professional sales roles, most of the offers (if not all) will be extended to candidates who are not of color and unemployed. The silver lining in the sky is 2 days before I was rejected from the interview process, my employer advanced my title and gave me a significant raise in salary. Something I didn’t expect after 3 massive company layoffs and the hard times we’re experiencing in the tech industry. I’m very fortunate and grateful.
My recommendation to DEI sales professionals: Interview at Forrester if you’re interested and have the extra time. Don’t feel discouraged or believe that your credentials don’t measure up if you’re not selected for the role. Work for a company who will appreciate your quality background, skills and uniqueness. Company culture, diversity and inclusion matters. Best wishes to All! :-)
