eSpark Learning Interview Questions
& Process

After applying, I got an email saying they wanted me to continue with a lengthy interview process. They even sent a document detailing all the steps, which seemed to be about 6 or 7 in total, with 2 performance tasks. The first thing I did was one of these performance tasks. The instructions said it would take 30 minutes, but it ended up taking me over 2 hours because the questions were long and required a lot of thought. I guess I did well because a few days later, I got asked for a phone screen. The phone screen went well, and the manager even suggested I might be a better fit for a higher-level role and said she'd contact me by the middle of the next week. However, I never heard from eSpark Learning again after that. It seems fine for them to have applicants spend time on performance tasks and work for free, but they can't even send a rejection email. I even sent a polite email asking for an update after I was supposed to hear back, but still nothing. I was ghosted. Thanks, eSpark Learning, for showing me I definitely don't want to work there.

The interviews were really personable and they asked good questions, offering helpful feedback and info about the role. It felt more like chatting, giving me lots of chances to talk about my background, skills, and what I value. I really liked how upfront the hiring team was about the whole process. I felt ready for the kinds of chats we'd have and what they were looking for. You can expect a screening activity challenge, a quick 15-min phone call, a performance task/presentation followed by an interview, and then Topgrading interviews if they invite you. They might also ask to arrange references. It's a lengthy process, seems to be the norm these days, so expect it to take several weeks.

My overall experience with eSpark was not good. The hiring process was fairly standard: a few phone interviews, a video interview, and then I was flown to Chicago for an all-day interview. The all-day interview highlighted a few of the company's flaws. It was clear that the people interviewing me had limited experience interviewing and (hopefully) greater experience doing other things. The day consisted of role plays that were not well thought out on eSpark's end. While everyone seemed nice and friendly during the interview, my experience was soured shortly after I did not get the job. I sent an email to someone on the marketing team. I had a series of interviews coming up and I expressed interest in some constructive feedback. The person from the marketing team never responded back to me. I took so much time to prepare for a series of many interviews and then carved out an entire day to get on a 3-hour flight to Chicago and sit through round upon round of questions. I was appalled that the person who flew me out there did not feel the need to dignify me with a response. I sent a follow-up email and ultimately I got a note that, regardless of intention, came across as mean and incredibly aggressive. While I am happy that the choice was made for me not to work for eSpark, I am sad that my potential boss felt it appropriate to write to me in the tone that she did. The way in which I left eSpark would lead me to discourage people from applying there.

So after this easy first phone screen to see if I was interested, I had a Skype interview with two employees. It was a top-grading interview. We went over my resume and my job experience. They kept asking me the same questions about my performance, the best and worst parts of the job, who my supervisor was, and how they'd rate my performance out of 10. It got pretty boring and the same, and they didn't seem to care about any other experiences on my resume other than work experience. Since I just graduated college, those other experiences were just as important for my personal growth as the work experience, so I felt like they missed the point there.