Expensify.com Interview Questions
& Process

I had an initial chat with the recruiter and then got sent a challenge. I took a week to work on it and sent it back. After another week, the reviewer got back to me on a Friday morning saying I didn't pass. They said, "Your presentation needs more visual polish. The formatting feels quite basic with minimal use of colour, limited visual hierarchy, and a layout that doesn't guide the eye effectively. For a customer experience role, presentation really matters. Think about using colour blocking, stronger typography, callouts, and more visual elements to create that "wow factor" that makes your work stand out." It wasn't clear beforehand that it was a design challenge, but they did say "The issues you identified are valid".

I had a pretty disappointing interview experience with Expensify, going through several rounds. The first with HR was okay but focused too much on personal life goals instead of job-related ones. Then came a lengthy take-home technical test. After that, I had a review of the challenge with some basic technical questions, surprisingly easy for the role's level. The last interview, with a director, was also heavily focused on my long-term personal plans. While they want cultural fit, focusing so much on personal life plans felt off. Communication from HR was also spotty, with unanswered emails and questions despite promises. The whole thing felt drawn out, tough, and unclear until the very end what they were really assessing.

I saw the job on LinkedIn and sent in my answers to the initial questions via email. The recruiter got back to me the next day to set up a call, which was nice. We did a 30-minute Zoom audio call, but it only took about 15 minutes. It felt pretty by-the-book, like they just read questions off a list with no real chat in between. I got to ask my questions at the end, and they said they'd let me know if I made it to the next stage. I heard back the same day but didn't get the job.

The interview process was incredibly fun. I started with a laid-back recruiter call. The technical assessment was a blast, letting me experiment freely. Unfortunately, I was rejected after the first official interview. In the past, interviews focused on the assessment with preparation materials for the next stage. This time, it was a rapid-fire technical jargon interview. Only one part was truly SRE-focused, another was SWE-centric, and the rest covered other topics I wasn't fully prepared for. I recommend studying beforehand. Even when I knew some answers, communication was difficult, which I recognize as a personal failing. I should improve my ability to articulate my knowledge. Despite this, the experience boosted my confidence in my building capabilities. Good luck, study up, and have fun!