BlueConic Interview Questions
& Process

I was contacted by the Head of People and had my initial interview with her. Following that, I completed an IQ test and a personality assessment. Next, I had a virtual meeting with the hiring manager. After that, I had another virtual interview with a future colleague. I then created and presented a Strategic Sales Plan to BlueConic executives. Finally, I had a discussion with the CRO of BlueConic.

The process started with a phone screen where I was asked about my previous roles and experience, and my understanding of BlueConic. The next day, I met with the BDR manager, VP of Sales, and VP of Marketing. I felt I connected well with everyone, and my explanation of the product was highly praised. Unfortunately, I never received any follow-up from the company regarding the status of my application, despite occasional updates from the recruiter. It was disappointing given it's a new company, and I had to pursue other opportunities.

I applied via LinkedIn Easy Apply and the hiring manager reached out two days later to schedule a phone interview. I asked when would be good for her and offered to speak same day, but she sent a meeting invite for the following week without checking if it would be good for my schedule. Since I manage a team and am customer facing, my days are spend in meetings and traveling to client sites, so the initial time did not work for me and I requested to move to another time. I received an updated invite without any emailed response, but was happy and appreciative that she was able to be flexible. The phone interview went well and we discussed my background, the role, the team and next steps. I was told that the next steps would typically be an onsite interview followed by an exercise to determine if I had the technical expertise for the role. Since I am from out of town, she suggested that I do the exercise first. The exercise would have been relatively quick, had I had familiarity with the software, but it took a few hours to do the research through BlueConic's FAQ's to understand their software and what I was trying to accomplish with the exercise. Once I completed the exercise and returned the packet, the hiring manager responded to me four days later that she would like for me to proceed with an in-person interview and asked "Can you tell me what might work for you in the coming couple of weeks?". Given that I am in a client facing role and am currently employed, I have a certain level of commitment to my company and my clients, and my desire to find a new role does not negate my current responsibilities. Additionally, given that I am from out of town (about 1.5 - 2 hour drive each way), I would need to take an entire day of PTO in order to accommodate the onsite interview. Seeing that she asked for availability for the coming weeks, not this upcoming week, gave me the sense that they were relatively accommodating in the scheduling and recognized the time commitment / logistical coordination that was needed from me. I responded to the request to come onsite, stating that I have two known but unscheduled commitments in the upcoming two weeks and asked if it was okay if I sent my availability in two days, once my meeting were scheduled. I received the following reply from the hiring manager: "Thanks for your response. While I appreciate that you’re trying to work out something that’s convenient, that approach doesn’t scream “I want this job” to me. So, let’s not move forward at this point. I get that that may seem harsh but, honestly, we’re looking for someone who just can’t wait to be here." Fortunately, I feel like I dodged a bullet.

The phone screen was great and I thought I was a good fit. I moved to the hiring manager interview, which I also thought went well. Most questions were about things I had done before. Towards the end, there was a lot of focus on API documentation, which was only a small part of the job description. I was honest and said I understood API, had written about it, and documented systems that used it, but had never documented an API itself. I was rejected the next day. The reason given was that they were moving forward with candidates with more in-depth experience in technical writing for SaaS and API writing. I find this odd because most of my 19-year career has been in SaaS, and API documentation was not a stated non-negotiable requirement in the job description, which asked to apply if most qualifications were met. The role was reposted just 3 hours after my rejection. It felt like a waste of time and that they don't evaluate talent well.