Disqus Interview Questions
& Process

This was the first company that didn't have any recruiter call to screen me. My first call was with the hiring manager, which was great and I was excited to come onsite. But the onsite interview was a big disappointment! The first interviewer was unprepared, he had no idea what to ask me and was literally writing his thoughts/questions as I was sitting across the table. It seemed like he was doing everything at Disqus yet nothing. The second interviewer was pleasant but given the nature of work done in that role, I was surprised when I didn't get an appropriate answer to my questions. The only saving grace was the third interviewer, who was asking smart questions to understand how it would be like to work with me, situational questions etc. After all this is when I got to meet the recruiter (with one of the onsite interviews still to happen). That's where we spoke about salary expectations, culture etc. I quoted my expected range which is what the market is valuing me at. But it seemed like this was beyond what they could offer. So the next thing I know is that I am being asked to leave and that the last interviewer is suddenly not available!! I knew that there was a difference between my expectations and what they could offer but this unprofessionalism was not expected. While walking out, I could see the last interviewer was sitting at his desk (so much for being busy/not available). It was a bad experience! They could have asked me expectations at the very start (had there been a recruiter screening like all other companies do). I wasted half a day for this and the time lost to study for the interviews.

I was reached out to internally by a mutual connection who then connected me with a recruiter. The recruiter set up an initial call where we discussed my process and technologies. After that, the recruiter scheduled a longer Skype interview and asked me to prepare a presentation of a past project and to create a feature flow for their product. I completed these assignments. During the Skype call, I presented my work to the design team and answered their questions. They questioned my time spent on the spec work and my knowledge of the product, which felt tense. The next day, I was told I wouldn't be moving forward.

The interview process involved an HR screener, then a phone interview with the Head of Product, followed by an on-site with the Head of Product and the VP of Engineering. The interview focused heavily on advertising knowledge, specifically asking about monetization strategies given that some major clients have moved to a competitor. Candidates should avoid suggesting a broad platform for all social needs as the key to engagement. This role is expected to build the product strategy and roadmap from scratch. There was no interview with design team members.

I talked to a few sales folks and HR to see if I'd be a good fit. They had me to lunch on my first day onsite, which was great to meet everyone. It did make the whole thing longer, with 3 phone chats and then a 4-hour onsite, but I got a good look at the company.