Hospitable Interview Questions
& Process

The interview process felt quite long and heavily favored the company. It kicked off with a one-way video interview that, while manageable, involved about 10 questions and took roughly 2 hours to finish. After that, I moved on to a case study. They estimated it would take 4-6 hours, but when factoring in prep time for the presentation, I ended up dedicating even more time to it. Honestly, I was a bit hesitant about diving into the case study since I hadn't had the chance to speak with anyone on the team or the hiring manager yet, but the role's appeal made me push forward. Unfortunately, I didn't get selected for the final panel interview after presenting the case study. I just wanted to give others a heads-up about this process; they expect a significant time commitment from you before you even get to ask questions about the role or the company.

I usually try to avoid jobs that start with one-way video interviews because they feel impersonal, but this time I was recruited and the job seemed like a really good fit. To my surprise, the one-way interview was actually pretty well-structured and even kind of enjoyable. I had to answer nine questions that were pre-recorded by their team, and I got three tries for each question to pick the best one to send in. The very next day, I got moved on to an assessment that had two parts. The first part was writing out answers to three customer-style questions, using their help resources. The second part was recording a Loom video where I talked about how to make the support experience better and cut down on customer questions by improving documentation, product, and UX. I sent everything in on Friday, and by Monday I was told I was moving forward again. The third stage was a 45-minute Zoom call with the director of support and two other team members. They asked me behavioral questions about my past work, projects I was proud of, how I'd handle specific support situations, and the kinds of work environments where I do my best. I had prepared a lot for this interview and felt like the conversation went well; everyone was nice and friendly. The next day, though, I got an email saying I didn't get the job. They said they couldn't get a "deeper sense" of my preferred work environment and that my answers seemed too "carefully prepared" and sometimes too long, which made it hard to see my natural communication style. I found this confusing because I had clearly mentioned I do well in remote settings with open knowledge sharing. And about being too prepared, I've never had an employer see that as a bad thing before. The interview didn't run over time, they got to ask all their questions, and I thought my answers were thoughtful, not rambling. I even had time to ask them questions at the end. I do appreciate that they communicated quickly and didn't leave me hanging. Still, the rejection felt less about my actual skills, which were a good match for the role, and more about "vibes." Vibes can be important, but it's tough to judge them when someone's naturally anxious and trying hard to impress. Overall, I'd rate the experience as neutral because I liked many parts, but the reasons for rejection didn't make much sense. It felt like they might be looking for perfection and missing out on good candidates.

So I got an email with a link to this long async interview thing, no actual phone screen beforehand. It had a deadline and I had to record my answers to about 10 questions, which took me like 2 hours. About a week later, they said they were excited to move me to the assessment round. But then the same afternoon, I got another email rejecting me and telling me to ignore the first message. Apparently, the hiring manager invited too many people to the assessment and felt it would be too much time. Honestly, it felt pretty awful, would have rather just gotten a straight rejection.

The interview process was very transparent. I got to speak with the CEO in the first interview, which was great. They are serious about their process, and I got a quick reply. I felt valued. It was the best interview process I've been through. Even though I didn't move to the second interview, it was still a really positive experience. I hope to try again to join the team; I bet it's really fun to work at Hospitable :)