Hustle Interview Questions
& Process

So the process was like, a phone interview and screening first, then two video interviews, and then one in person meeting. Two directors walked me through it and they were really helpful and sincere. They were super transparent and we talked about Hustle’s past, present, and future.

I got referred by a friend and then a recruiter reached out to schedule a call. After chatting with the recruiter, I had another phone interview with the VP of Sales. Then, they asked me to come in for an on-site. The on-site lasted about 4 hours and I met with 4 people: the VP of Sales, head of product, a sales team member, and a sales engineer. I also had to do a 45-minute mock pitch explaining why a company I picked should use Hustle. The team gave me some good feedback after the pitch. I didn't get the offer in the end and I wish the recruiter or hiring manager had given me more specific reasons why.

I applied through AngelList and heard back from a recruiter about a week later. The first step was a remote online Zoom call with another recruiter for an initial phone screen. They seemed understanding and thought I could be a good fit. This was followed by a 45-minute technical interview via Zoom and Coderpad with a Software Engineer. They asked one question, which was reasonable to answer, but the engineer barely asked about my background or skills, admitting they knew nothing about me before starting the technical question. This felt like a red flag about Hustle's hiring process. After that, there was radio silence for weeks, even after I reached out to the recruiter who set up the technical interview. I eventually got a generic rejection email nearly 3 weeks later, with no explanation. I was pretty confident in my technical answer and how I explained my thought process while solving it, so I suspect there was some other internal reason for the rejection. It's a shame because up until the technical interview, the recruiters made me feel respected and took time to understand me as an engineer and a person. Even the technical interviewer acknowledged the importance of fundamental programming knowledge over specific tools, yet seemed completely unaware of who I was. It's disappointing to see these common issues in hiring processes today.

I had a phone interview with the recruiter, who seemed distracted with another issue and didn't ask much. I mostly led the conversation, with awkward silences and no follow-up from her, but she still passed me to the hiring manager. The hiring manager interview was tough; he constantly interrupted me, kept checking the time, and asked about skills not in the job description. It was a brand and content role, but he focused on lead generation and B2B marketing, even answering some of my questions for me before I could finish, which felt dismissive. It was disappointing because I thought they valued diversity, but I felt like I didn't belong. I sent thank-you emails to the recruiter, hiring manager, and coordinator, but only got a standard rejection email. I followed up with the recruiter about a question and got no reply. I understand not everyone gets a reply, but after preparing for hours and taking time off work for a second interview, I expected at least a response to my thank you notes. How a company treats candidates shows how they value employees.