FreshBooks Manager Interview Questions
& Process

After submitting my CV, I was contacted by Talent Acquisition for an initial screening. They asked some questions to check my experience and see if I'd be a good cultural fit. After that, I interviewed with the hiring manager. It was a really professional conversation where I felt comfortable discussing my past work, the tech I've used, and my management approach. Overall, I felt it went very well. Then, there were three more interviews with different people in the IT department before an offer was made. Everyone was super professional throughout. They kept me updated on everything all the way up to the offer.

The interview process was pretty solid, letting me meet lots of people from different levels. It gave me a good sense of the culture at FreshBooks. From the first call to the offer, it took about six months. Since I was living abroad, it was mostly remote, with time zones being a bit tricky. It started with several 1-hour phone screenings with a Technical Recruiter, VP of Engineering, CTO, and Senior Director of Engineering, focusing on skills, behavior, and experience. I got plenty of time for questions too. Next, two principal developers interviewed me technically. I presented a system I'd built, and they probed me on the architecture, decisions, scaling, debugging, and monitoring. After finding a time that worked, I flew to Toronto for a two-day onsite. Day one, from 10-3, included an hour with the CEO about culture, behavior, and skills. Then, a 1-hour panel with a Senior Director of Engineering, a Senior Development Manager, and a Tech Lead. Lunch was with a Principal Developer and Tech Lead, followed by an hour with the VP of Engineering. Day two, 12-4, started with a follow-up lunch with the VP of Engineering, then an hour with the VP of Product, and finished with the CTO.

The process began with a phone interview with the recruiter, followed by another phone interview with the hiring manager. After that, there was an in-office interview involving the hiring manager and a peer-level team member. The recruiter then mentioned that the next step would be a technical interview with the hiring manager, expected within the next two weeks. I sent a thank you note to the recruiter and provided my availability as requested. After a few weeks of silence, which isn't unusual, the recruiter sent a follow-up saying recruitment was paused but would resume within the week. This seemed like a red flag. I never heard back from FreshBooks after that. I got a good sense of what FreshBooks is all about by how they treat potential employees. To bring a candidate in for an in-person interview and not have the respect to follow up makes me believe they wouldn't respect employees. In a way I'm glad they showed their true colours, but I wish my time wasn't wasted. I moved on, if you're reading this you should consider moving on as well.