Interactions Interview Questions
& Process

The interview process at Interactions was notably respectful of my time. My main contact, Mike G, was consistently responsive and attentive to my experience. The process began with a phone screen, followed by a Zoom interview with the hiring manager, who was also prompt in answering questions and even offered an apology and explanation for a delay due to bereavement, which was a pleasant surprise compared to other companies that often ghosted candidates or had long response times. A subsequent Zoom interview with another manager was also very positive and helpful. The final stage involved a low-pressure Google Slides presentation using dummy data to demonstrate my analytical skills, where the interviewers remained kind despite some mistakes I made. Overall, it was a seamless experience, and Interactions stood out for their focus on timeliness and appreciation of candidate effort.

Got a quick call from the recruitment agency, which was appreciated. The interviewer seemed friendly and we had about a 40-minute discussion. They asked about my previous project and its design. A funny moment was when I was asked why I wasn't removing old logs. I explained I wasn't aware of log roll-over strategies early in my career, which I later realized was a negative point. He asked one technical coding question and 2-3 general Java questions. He didn't raise concerns about my answers then, but later gave feedback saying I was just 'ok' in Java. This made me feel he had already decided the outcome and was just going through the motions with easy questions. Maybe he was frustrated about interviewing on a Saturday morning. If you don't want to interview, don't. Wasting people's time is bad. Happy not to be selected by a company where people don't come on video but expect you to. They probably hide because they reject for random reasons and want to see your face for a 50% decision. They say honesty is appreciated, but it's not; you have to fake it. Such interviewers rarely clarify questions to help you answer properly. Be careful sharing designs; they might just take ideas and still reject you for unknown reasons. Interviews should be healthy discussions, but these interviewers just ask predefined questions like a college viva. Be aware that companies might reject you after HR calls and document collection, even after a potential offer, for random reasons. A lot of fraud happens in hiring. If you think you can avoid it, you can't always, and you won't be able to complain. Don't support wrong practices. Bad experience, as these interviewers seem focused on rejection rather than selection.

I went through three rounds of interviews. After each round, I asked, “Based on the experiences I shared with you, is there anything you still have questions about or anything I answered that would give you pause in considering me for this position?” I sent thank you notes after each interview. I never heard back from them. Following up several weeks later, I assumed they found someone else. I still never received a reply. I was surprised to be ghosted by any professional organization, but especially surprised to be ghosted by an organization marketing a Conversational AI product.

Got referred by someone I know. My first interview was a phone call with HR, which was nice and informative. She told me about the company and its business model. We talked about my background and some general stuff. She said there might be two more technical phone interviews before they decide on the next steps. The first technical phone interview went well, and the interviewer seemed nice and talented, saying he'd give his feedback to the hiring manager. Then, I was invited for a face-to-face interview at their Franklin, MA office. I had four rounds with different people (one of whom was the same person from the phone interview) plus a final HR chat. In one technical interview, I was given a concurrency problem and had to design and code a solution in Java (either version 7 or 8). The interviewers were friendly and smart. It was a good experience overall. If you haven't worked with concurrency recently, it's a good idea to prepare and practice beforehand for this type of interview.