I just recently finished walking. Temu （The whole process of interviewing for the Account Manager position at PDD (North America) lasted from May 1st to May 20th, with six rounds before and after. The overall process was not a "typical factory-style structured interview", but more of a chatting, directional confirmation, but the level of the interviewers was surprisingly high, which was a very special point of this experience.
Job background
Account Manager belongs to Temu North America local operation post, the main responsibility is:
- Real-time help for local merchants in North America to solve operational chokepoints
- Full link support from onboarding, traffic, account management to sales monitoring
- Sounds like a very "PM + Customer Service + Merchant Coach" hybrid role!
- Fast-paced, trivial things, not the kind of promotion or BD with KPIs to charge the feeling!
Temu's overseas team was originally dominated by BD (business development), legal, tax, and mostly remote, but because the platform had to focus more on local merchants in North America after the tariffs, it opened up rare local operations positions for a limited time.
Interview timeline (6 rounds total)
- 5/01 Round 1: Recruiter (C E)
- 5/08 Second round: Hiring Manager (Chinese)
- 5/09 Round 3: Cross-sectoral (English)
- 5/14 Round 4: VP (Chinese)
- 5/19 Round 5: English test
- 5/20 Round 6: HRBP (Chinese)
Round 1: Recruiter (mixed Chinese and English)
The pacing is easy, just routine:
- self-introduction
- Go over the items on your resume.
- Why you want to come to Temu and why it's a good fit for merchant operations
- Understanding of the position
Not too many "behavioral/STAR questions", more like judging English level + basic fit.
Second round: Hiring Manager (Chinese)
The style is also basically chatty:
- A deeper inquiry into your previous experience.
- Your role in previous positions
- How to handle merchant/customer emergencies
- Understanding of Temu Merchant Operations (more pushing the middle office logic from the experience itself, won't ask about the framework)
I feel that HM doesn't care too much about "structured answers", but more about communication skills, fast pace, and stress tolerance.
Round 3: Cross-sectoral interviews (English)
This round was very interesting.
The interviewer was a director level recently poached from Amazon and told me right off the bat:
"This position is really hard, annoying, and not as fulfilling as marketing."
"Are you sure you're okay with high-density merchant communication, repetitive questions?"
Overall it seems like "early dismissal", but I feel like it's to make sure you have realistic expectation of what the job will be like.
The questions asked were very open:
- What do you think is the biggest difference between a local merchant and a Typical Temu seller?
- How would you handle a complaint from a merchant for multiple days in a row?
- What are your observations about the behavior and needs of North American consumers?
The English interview style is average in depth but fast paced.
Round 4: VP interview (Chinese)
VP background is very heavy: Co-founder of PDD + Head of Temu.
This round is still not a "technical interview", however:
-For you.The general direction of the judgment is very clear
- You'll be asked about your values.
- You'll be asked about your understanding of North American business
- You'll be asked if you can handle the intensity and pace of the business.
Rather surprised:
VP, I can't believe he asked about salary expectations.
(Mental OS: How can such a big boss still care about my salary?)
The overall conversation was smooth, but I could feel the high-level scanning of the candidate by the executives.
Round 5: English test (big reward for confusing behavior)
Most confusing round.
I passed the first two English interviews, but suddenly I was given an English chat test.
And it is:
- Wake me up at 6:00 a.m.
- The other guy is an Indian guy from base Shanghai.
- Chatting is extremely casual: work experience + why you want to come to Temu
- No depth issues
- It's over in 15 minutes.
It feels like a process that has to go, but it really doesn't mean much.
Round 6: HRBP (Chinese)
HRBP is the round that asks the most detailed questions:
- Every experience after graduation
- Is there a window of opportunity?
- Title, Scope for each post
- Reasons for past job-hopping
- Why do you want to come now, Temu?
- Desired career path
- Ability to accept a rhythmic, irregular workload
The questions are more detailed than many large HRBPs, and are obviously the final background check.
After you pass it is for you to fill out a job application registration form for the domestic headquarters and enter the headquarters approval process.
Summary: Temu interviews are very distinctive
1. Interviewers are generally of high rank
The cross-functional director is from Amazon and the VP is a co-founder, which is basically impossible to find in an AM position in other companies.
2. Interview style is not structured, but rather direction-confirming
You won't ask STAR questions, you won't ask for program derivation, but you will always talk about your understanding and mindset.
3. Positions are really fast-paced, repetitive and stressful
Interviewers emphasize this over and over again and remind you of it in almost every round.
4. The English test episode is fascinating, but not difficult
If you can communicate on a daily basis, it's basically fine.
5. HRBP will ask very detailed questions, like backtracking.
Make sure you don't have any gaps, or fail to match the timeline.
I went through Temu's six rounds of process, and to be honest, the pace was really fast, the interviewers were high level, and there were a few rounds of tests that were inserted out of the blue. If I hadn't prepared in advance, I would have been easily confused or unable to keep up with the pace of their communication.
The other team outside the interview venue
I myself used in my preparation Programhelp ‘s one-on-one interview assists and the whole experience was pretty solid:
- VO Voice AlertI had a mock version of each round of interviews and went through all the possible directions that HM/VP/interdepartment might ask in advance, especially for Temu's "chatty interviews", where you need someone to help you run through the logic.
- Answer rhythm calibration: Temu's interviewers talk fast and jump around a lot with questions, so we did "fast-paced response training" in advance so that we wouldn't panic on the stage.
- Background Packaging and Experience ReviewProgramhelp will help you refine your highlights based on your past experience. For example, for AM positions, the most important things to look for are "communication, stress resistance, and understanding of the business", and Programhelp will teach you how to put these points into context.
- Cross-language interview preparation: Because I had a mix of Chinese and English and pure English this time, their coach adjusted the English expression together to be more in line with the North American interviewer's habit.
If you're going to go for Temu, Amazon, Meta or any multi-round VO position afterward, especially the fast-paced, cross-language kind, you can make an appointment with one of their assisters ahead of time, it will save you a lot of time and reduce the probability of flopping on the spot.
