I applied online after reading great reviews here and was told that we would move forward with the interviews.

Had a coding interview with one of the senior engineers, which went well.

The feedback was that I did so well in the coding that my skills would be under-utilized in an Engineering Manager role.

The recruiter asked if I'd consider a Principal Engineer role, and I kindly said no.

Then the recruiter stopped responding to me.

I personally reached out to another recruiter and was told the Engineering Manager role, in fact, requires more years of experience.

So here are my questions:

• If the role required more years of experience than what I had, then why did we even start the interview series and waste my time?
• Is doing unexpectedly well in a coding interview a showstopper for being an Engineering Manager at Zendesk?

This is a very distasteful recruitment experience, and the fact that people who work in this manner could make it to Zendesk is a huge red flag to me.

Basic data structure question.