InStride Interview Questions
& Process

I was reached out to by a recruiter on LinkedIn. The interview process involved an initial screening call, followed by a second interview with the hiring manager. Then, there was a third panel interview with four team members from different departments, and the final interview was with the VP of the team. The whole process moved fast with interviews scheduled back-to-back, but it was quite a long overall experience.

Interviewing with InStride was a great experience. My recruiter was engaging and communicative, making sure I understood at every stage where I was in the process and what the next steps were. I had an initial screening with the recruiter followed by a 30 minute call with the hiring manager. The final round of interviews consisted of three back-to-back calls where I spoke one-on-one with various members of related teams. Their questions were thoughtful and relevant but not overly difficult to answer. My final interview round fell right before a long holiday weekend, but I heard from the recruiter the following week with an estimated timeline for the decision-making process. I received an update at the beginning of the next week advising me that an offer was forthcoming.

Got a message from HR in January about the role, asked a bunch of stuff, then nothing, seemed like they ghosted. The role was on hold and I didn't hear back until the end of March. After not hearing back again, I set up time with the hiring manager. We had a 45 minute conversation where they just fired off question after question. They even took a call during the interview, which took away about 5 minutes. The hiring manager seemed really off-putting and didn't make it easy to connect personally. They didn't leave any time to ask questions comfortably, felt rushed. They shut down towards the end of the call and seemed distracted. It was a disappointing experience, and my initial thought was that this wouldn't be a manager who would help me grow.

This was the most seamless interview process I’ve had, which I appreciated after navigating a brutal hellscape of a job market last year. I applied through LinkedIn, heard back a week later, and went through 3 stages: recruiter call, hiring manager interview, panel interview. They didn’t waste my time with a take-home or simulation, which was amazing (they had asked for a link to a portfolio with work samples in the job description, which was a smart way to get a sense for my work ahead of time). Offer was made a week after the last interview. Everyone was so kind, considerate, and transparent along the way. I wish all hiring processes looked like this, especially in this market. I had friends who went through 7-8 interview stages with multiple take home assignments, which is insane, inhumane, and a colossal waste of resources. I felt like my time and energy were respected every step of the way here.