Common Interview Questions
& Process

It was a pretty simple process. Everyone was nice and helpful. The questions were relevant to the job. Be ready for finance questions and questions about leadership styles. I met with three people. The first interview was a phone call, the second was a video call, and the third was a video panel interview.

I went through 5 interviews, which felt like a lot of my time just to be told no (around 2.5 hours+). I thought I was doing well, so I'm disappointed but get that companies have their own ways. I'd suggest they get more people involved in interviews for quicker decisions. The process included a recruiter call, then four more calls with a hiring manager, two co-workers on the People Ops team, and finally another People Operations Business Partner. They let me know via email that I wasn't a good fit. I suspect technical issues with my video calls (audio/video syncing problems with Google Meet) might have played a role. I'd advise candidates to read interview invites carefully and test their video setup beforehand.

I really wish I didn’t have to write this review because I believe in Common’s mission and product. However, I’ve never been so disrespected through an interview process. When I applied online I got back an interview request immediately and had my first interview, then they requested a second interview and everyone was so kind and followed up with me right away. After my second interview I was told I would know where I stood within a week. It’s been close to 3 months now and I have not heard a word. I have followed up with 4 different people, and haven’t heard a SINGLE response. I’ve effectively been ghosted by the entirety of Common. When you’re called in for a second interview you should at least be given the decency of having a timely response, or a RESPONSE. Period. The job is still open so they are still hiring for the position. I don’t understand why they couldn’t just reject me if they didn’t want me or at the very least say ANYTHING. I have worked in hiring employees before and I’ve never heard of a company doing that to someone they interviewed mutipule times. If I ever do hear back from these guys, I certainly wouldn’t want to be a part of a company who does this to people.

The initial phone screen with the engineering manager was great! I felt at ease and learned a lot about the company's future direction. The engineering manager gave me a really good impression. Based on your skills, there are three paths forward: frontend, backend, or full-stack engineer. For frontend and backend roles, you'll do a technical phone screen with an engineer. If you choose full-stack, you'll get a timed take-home assignment. I went with full-stack. I'd suggest setting up both your frontend and backend environments beforehand since it's timed. The project itself is pretty straightforward: create an autocomplete search input that shows data after you pick something, with all data coming from an external API. Once you're done, submit the assignment with your reasoning behind your choices. Overall, it was a positive experience.