Hotjar Software Engineer Interview Questions
& Process

The interview process spanned approximately two months. While the company website detailed the process, the tech recruiter provided a more in-depth explanation. First, I submitted my CV, and received a response within a day or two. Once my profile was deemed a good fit, a tech recruiter reached out to schedule a call. This was a casual chat about my background, previous work experience, and future aspirations. Following this, I was given a task to demonstrate my engineering abilities. After submitting the task, an engineer reviewed it, asked clarifying questions about the code, and allowed me time to document my thought process in an asynchronous discussion. Next, I participated in a technical interview with two engineers who presented me with engineering problems and asked specific questions about past work scenarios, my responses, and the reasoning behind them. The final stage involved an interview with a Director of Engineering to discuss my background, expectations, and interest in the company. They also provided an overview of the teams and career progression opportunities. Finally, I received the offer call. Throughout the process, the interviewers were very approachable, and despite its length and introspective nature, the experience was ultimately rewarding.

I applied in Jan 2022. After a recruiter call, I got a take-home task that I had a week to complete. The project was set up, and the assignment involved a new endpoint, which was interesting. I finished it in a day. After submitting, I let the hiring manager know. The review took 8 days past the deadline, so about two weeks after submission. Then came the technical interview, which was mostly a chat about my experience and ideas on Microservices, Monoliths, Python, and Databases. I thought it went well. They said they'd reply in about a week about next steps. A week later, I got an email saying I didn't make it because of the high quality of applications, work culture fit, and not just interview performance. The process was smooth but slow. They paid for the take-home task, which was great. My only suggestion is to be more transparent with feedback on why candidates are rejected, especially after the technical interview, since that info is likely summarized internally anyway. It would make Hotjar a better place if feedback was shared, especially for candidates who reach the interview stage, to help them in their future job searches.

The recruitment process is well documented on their website and consists of a call with the recruiter, a technical test, a technical interview, and a team fit interview. I got rejected after the first call with the recruiter (20 min) with no clear reason, just a general message about the high quality of applicants. The company claims to be transparent, but the rejection message suggests otherwise. I suspect the rejection might be due to my salary expectations. The company stated a salary range of 60-80k EUR, and I mentioned my current salary is 67k EUR and I aim for at least that or higher. The recruiter might not have liked this. Also, Hotjar requires participants to use headsets for a good internet connection, which was not followed during my interview. The recruiter had a terrible connection, with audio and video freezing, and she wasn't using a headset, making it difficult to understand her. Overall, despite Hotjar seeming interesting on paper, the experience was terrible, and I wouldn't recommend applying.