InterSystems Interview Questions
& Process

The recruitment process is quite disappointing. Before any interview or recruiter call, they make you take two tests that are completely unrelated to the role. These tests take about an hour. If you ask for feedback on the tests, they ghost you. While these tests might be useful for technical roles, they are pointless and irrelevant for roles like this, and it causes them to miss out on great candidates. They really need to know their audience better, because not every role requires these types of tests, especially when they have no relation to the job. Even bigger companies don't have this level of testing for roles that don't need it, making it very impersonal and out of touch. It definitely doesn't create a good first impression from a candidate's point of view.

Before speaking to a single human, I had to complete three assessments (TET, PI, and PET) that took almost 2 hours, and it included a proctored webcam test. The recruiter didn't even wait for my response before sending the test links, which was a sign of things to come, and felt chaotic. I did the TET (the technical pass/fail test), and then the recruiter sent me the rest of the assessments. I completed all three assessments, only to be rejected with no feedback, no explanation, and no human contact throughout the entire process. The whole experience felt like being processed by a machine. My advice to candidates: Know what you're getting into. If you apply, be ready to invest a lot of time before anyone at the company actually sees you as a person. If the recruiting process is this impersonal, think about what that says about the company culture. My advice to InterSystems: Candidates are evaluating you too. A little human communication goes a long way.

I had 3 online assessments initially: PET (an SAT-like test), PI (a personality test), and TET (a test where you learn a new programming language). Once I passed those, hiring managers could see my resume and express interest. Then, I had two interviews on the same day: one with a recruiter and one with the program managers from the team that was interested in me. After the interviews, I got my offer about a month later. I applied on 9/25 and received the offer on 2/19.

I got referred by someone in one department but they suggested I check out other jobs too. I did, found some other interesting roles, and told both interviewers, but they didn't really listen. The recruiter in the first round didn't even look at the links I sent for other jobs and said to discuss them with the hiring manager. Then the hiring manager asked why I was interviewing for support roles again, coming from software, and ignored my interest in other paths, even though they both mentioned the company's high average tenure. The recruiter said the HM was worried I'd leave for another software job, which shows they weren't paying attention and missed red flags in their process. They hard-sell the new office and view, ask about commuting downtown in an expensive city, but never state pay ranges beyond 'competitive,' even with pay transparency laws recently passed. When I asked about salary, they asked for *my* targets twice, even after I said I wasn't normally interviewing for this, the role was unclear, and I didn't have current data. I was looking at it as a bridge job anyway, like any job requiring 3-4 days in office would be, but those issues would've been bigger dealbreakers if I cared more about staying longer than 6 months. They did call me, which is nice, a vintage touch of courtesy. But an email would've been fine; the issue is automation, not the medium.