HappyCo Interview Questions
& Process

I had some nice talks with the team. First, a recruiter called me, then I spoke with the hiring manager. They ended up hiring someone else, but I still got a good feel for the company from chatting with various team members.

So I had a bunch of interviews, first with the recruiter, then the hiring manager, and their boss. It was all pretty chill and productive. Then I had to talk to someone from another department and the two founders. The chat with the department person was kinda weird, they were vaping and mostly talked about themselves. I think they wanted to see if I was technically good, but the questions were more like 'What's your favorite product?' and 'What do you like about this software?'. Kinda bummed because a few hours before the next interviews, they cancelled everything. I guess they didn't think I was technical enough based on that chat. I really liked the company and the people though, wish I could have shown them what I know.

First, I had to do this video response thing, like answering some questions for the application, it was like 1 minute max per answer. Then the real interview was on Zoom, it lasted 45 mins. They asked me a bunch of stuff like what I know about HappyCo, my past work experience, why I'm a good fit, and how I'd handle backlog prioritization. They gave me plenty of time for each question. At the end, I got to ask about the company and they asked about my salary expectations. They told me there would be a second interview with the tech team and a final one with the CEO. The reason this whole thing sucked is that they told me I'd made it to the second interview and they'd contact me in a week to set it up. They also told me to email the interviewer with any questions and they'd be super responsive. Well, I waited over 3 weeks, sent two emails, and heard nothing back. I get not hiring me if I wasn't a good fit or if my salary request was too high, but ghosting me with no explanation is just rude, unprofessional, and the opposite of what their employee reviews say.

I interviewed in 2023 for a product role. There were 4 rounds in total, and the last one was with the CEO. A small snag was not knowing the full interview process upfront, but everyone I spoke with was really professional and showed up on time. The discussions were good, and they really listened and asked follow-up questions.