CarGurus Account Executive Interview Questions
& Process

I applied for an AE role in Ireland and had an initial call with the recruitment team in Boston which was good. They asked about my experience and why I was interested in Cargurus. Following that, I had three 30-minute interviews back-to-back with the Sales Director, a Team Leader, and the Sales Manager. The first two interviews went well, following a standard sales interview structure. However, the last interview seemed disorganized, with the interviewer unsure of what to ask, making me feel like they didn't want to be there. I asked for feedback afterwards and was told it was a good interview and that more candidates were being considered. What was most frustrating was that after dedicating an hour and a half to these interviews, I received no follow-up communication (email or call) regarding the outcome, which felt unprofessional and like a waste of my time.

Applied and was told 1-2 weeks to hear back, but it took 4 weeks. They had scheduling issues, and I offered to call out of my current job to make the interview happen sooner. The interview itself was very scripted and cold. I would think there would be more emphasis on candidate personality for a sales role. During the interview, which had generic questions, one interviewer was obviously distracted. At the end, I asked about hearing back and was told "a couple business days." When I followed up after 12 days, the recruiter responded snarkily that he didn't bother to contact me because I hadn't followed up. I didn't know I was supposed to follow up with the recruiter after just one phone call, especially after asking hiring managers about expectations. The whole process was disorganized and insulting.

My interview with CarGurus was top-notch. The hiring team was super responsive, setting up an initial call quickly. That first 30-minute chat was really informative and felt very relaxed. We then moved to interviews with the team. Even though they had a clear structure, there was plenty of room for casual conversation, making it feel less like an evaluation and more like a good discussion. The team excelled at recognizing strengths and building rapport fast. I'm really impressed with how smoothly everything went. They were efficient and adapted to my pace, which was appreciated.