I had one of the most disappointing experiences of my career during the interview process with Salesforce. I successfully passed all interview rounds, and from the beginning, it was communicated that the role could be filled at either an experienced or senior level, with the final level to be determined based on performance.
After completing six interviews over the course of several months, I was told that I had passed—but that they had decided I was at the mid-level, and unfortunately, there was no open position available for that level. It was incredibly frustrating to invest so much time and energy only to be told there wasn’t even a position open, despite having passed.
Even more disheartening was that no real feedback was provided—just the claim that everything was perfect except for the level. I was told I was “in the queue” and might get an offer if a suitable position opened, possibly even the following week. I waited patiently for months with no update.
Eventually, I received an offer from another company but decided to check in with Salesforce one last time. The recruiter responded saying a position had just opened, and she wanted to schedule a call with the hiring manager the next day. Trusting that things were finally moving forward, I declined the other offer. Unfortunately, the recruiter then went silent for a while, only to later inform me that the hiring manager rejected me due to “lack of experience with scale.”
This was especially upsetting given that I had led one of the largest ad-tech projects globally, operating at the scale of hundreds of millions of users—scale well beyond what was ever discussed in the interviews.
This process was unprofessional, inconsistent, and deeply disheartening. I expected more from a company of Salesforce’s reputation.