Recruiting was very professional. I applied online and they contacted me via email to schedule a phone screen with the hiring manager. The calendar confirmation contained some additional instructions:
"Please consider the following interview tips:
1. Be in a quiet place where you are comfortable and there are no distractions.
2. Have a copy of your resume available just in case you are questioned on it.
3. Have paper and pen ready to use.
4. Have any questions you have for the interviewer ready."
Based on the above, and the dozens of reviews on Glassdoor describing the toughness and rigor of the Amazon interviewing process, I prepared like crazy as I expected some tough questions.
The interviewer called on time, but after a couple minutes it became clear s/he had not prepared to conduct an interview. S/he had not read my resume and did not seem to have any questions to ask me other than "Tell me about yourself" as s/he skimmed my resume and occasionally murmured, "You have an interesting background". Once we got through my background, s/he did not have follow up questions for me. I filled in with questions of my own and asked about the company culture, team structure and next steps.
A couple days later, I noticed that they changed the job title (but not the job description), and a day after that recruiting contacted me to tell me they were moving forward with other candidates and that I should please understand they were unable to give me feedback on my interview.
Overall it was a very odd experience and I can only hope that this is not exemplary of the interview style at Goodreads.
