Hostaway Interview Questions
& Process

The entire interview process spanned about a month. My initial recruiter chat and the engineering manager interview went pretty well. However, the technical interview felt a bit off, with abstract theoretical questions like implementing a method using 'bind' and a LeetCode-style 'isPalindrome' function. They did throw in a React coding task at the end, but it was made unnecessarily complex with a 'setInterval' scenario, which isn't something you encounter frequently in typical projects. Despite the technical challenges, the interviewers were genuinely friendly.

I had a first video interview that seemed to go great, it was engaging and professional. They said I'd hear back by Friday but I didn't, so I waited another week and followed up. I got an automated response that the person was out of office until the next week. Once they were back, I followed up again but got no reply. It's a shame because it started off so well, and while I know not everyone gets the job, a quick update would be nice, especially now.

The hiring process was quite lengthy, involving four separate interviews. Each stage seemed designed to advance me to the next, with a strong emphasis on role-playing, assessing cultural alignment, and evaluating communication skills. There was limited opportunity to actively engage with the product or the sales process itself. While this approach is common in SaaS recruitment, it can be quite frustrating and consume a lot of time for experienced professionals. After the final interview, I was told I'd get a response within 24 to 48 hours. However, I instead received an automated rejection email at 1:00 AM on a Tuesday, with no specific feedback or explanation. I had previously reached out to thank the team and inquire about an update, but heard nothing until the automated decline. Honestly, it wasn't a great experience as a candidate, and I believe companies could offer a better process, particularly for seasoned professionals who value transparency, prompt updates, and constructive feedback.

The interview process was smooth and professional, really taking my profile into account. It started with a friendly recruiter call with Khrystyna. After that, I had a take-home exercise to complete. I enjoyed the exercise but found it a bit complex for the time given, and having to manually transcribe everything from a photopdf took away from my research time. Even though I wasn't selected, they provided detailed feedback on my exercise, and I enjoyed the overall process.