Cloud Elements Interview Questions
& Process

The first step was a phone screen to check my school and ask some basic culture questions. The second step was a video interview where I was asked cultural and product questions. I also received a take-home assignment with a week to complete it. The company's product is really cool, and they expect applicants to teach themselves the product by setting up an account, connecting to an API, and then an instance of that connection. The take-home also required building out an API call/flow with a response and logic to email updated data, which involved self-teaching an emailing product like SendGrid. The provided documentation was outdated, and the Github ReadMe's were minimal. While I could ask for hints, they mostly just linked to the docs. For an entry-level role, it felt like they expected free labor to learn the product before starting, which made me wonder about their training and onboarding culture, or if they even have an expectation of teaching/mentoring. It's a cool product, but the expectations for a junior role were strange.

I applied online and was contacted by CE for a 30-minute phone screen, which was set up by HR. Then, they gave me a project to test my coding skills. This project was estimated to take about 80 hours, which I felt was excessive. It also seemed like they were asking for free labor, as the project was essentially a tool they could use. While I'm okay with doing projects around 2-4 hours, 80 hours plus a free tool is just too much. So, I decided to pass on this opportunity.

You'll meet lots of people from different departments, which is your chance to ask about the job, what's expected, and the company vibe. The interviewers come from various teams, giving you a good look at the company culture. You'll have two phone screens: one with HR and another with the hiring manager. If those go well, you'll likely get a take-home assignment. After that, you'll come in to discuss your work and meet more people from the company.

I was contacted by an external recruiter via LinkedIn. We had a 30-minute initial chat about my background, experience, and what the job entails. After they felt I was a good fit and I agreed to proceed, we scheduled an interview with the hiring manager. However, on the day of the interview, they canceled via voicemail, stating the hiring manager wasn't impressed with my profile. I tried to get more feedback from HR but was ghosted.