Carta Interview Questions
& Process

This whole thing took about 10 business days from applying to getting the offer. The recruiter was super responsive and helpful. The interviews felt like they were actually about the job and what it involves. The interviewers were nice and paid attention. It was three interviews back-to-back, all virtual. They really want to see if you know your stuff technically and can communicate well. They took about a week to decide and then got back to me in a couple of days with a formal offer. Pretty great process overall.

The interview process kicked off with a nice and friendly chat with the recruiter who told me about the role and asked about my data experience and the tech stack I use. Then, I had an interview with the hiring manager, which was a bit different. It felt like they were rushing to finish the meeting and just went through a list of questions quickly. I got a rejection email a few days after that. The process was laid out as: a 30-min chat with the hiring manager about my projects and career goals, a 30-min live SQL coding session, a Python take-home assignment, and a virtual panel for product case studies and technical discussions.

The role I interviewed for was a new position they didn't have at Carta. The interviewers had no idea what to ask or what a good candidate would possess or what a good competitive intelligence program requires. I'm certain they were just harvesting free consulting hours and presentations from experts in the field for a new emerging growth opportunity for them. Many people cite predatory pricing on G2 so I wouldn't be surprised if they're predatory in this way as well. Costs them nothing to lead on candidates and getting free work out of them. The CMO interview wasn't even her asking questions, just asking me how a program like this works, letting me speak for 30 minutes and her writing it all down. Even when I would pause and ask a question she would just say "keep going". Ultimately I would advise against anyone working here or wasting the time interviewing so they can profit. Bad reviews on glass door from employees, bad reviews on G2, capterra, and bad experience during interviewing tells you all you really need to know.

So I had this interview for Software Engineer II, Fund Administration, and honestly it was the best rejection I've ever gotten. I had 6 interviews total, with 4 of them being part of a virtual onsite. The whole thing was pretty long and tough. The technical challenge itself wasn't super hard, but it was super time-consuming. I think there are different versions of it, but the one I got would've taken me way more than the 4 hours I was given, even for senior engineers. I sent in what I had at 4 hours, even though I knew I could've made it so much better with just 2 more hours, despite knowing the industry well. It felt like they were more focused on finding reasons *not* to hire you than reasons *to* hire you, which is fine but what's a red flag can be kinda subjective, especially for design stuff. On the bright side, the recruiters were amazing and really empathetic, even working around my schedule changes for the onsite. They even gave me a call to let me know I was rejected, instead of an email, and they gave me feedback when I asked for it, which I really appreciated. They were also super quick with communication, responding to my emails in hours. Before the onsite, the recruiter prepped me and made sure I had everything I needed. And the interviewers were some of the nicest people I've met in this industry, making the interviews feel more like casual chats, which is rare. When I asked them what they valued most at Carta, they all said 'people', and you could totally see it. Their candidate dashboard was also really clean and easy to use, which makes me think they care about the candidate experience. Overall, it's a great process that other companies should look up to.