Kana Interview Questions
& Process

My initial contact with the company was good through the application and talking to the recruiter, but then things went really bad. I had an interview with less than a day's notice because it was the only time the hiring manager had available. After that, I didn't hear anything for over two months, even though I kept asking for updates. Eventually, I got a rejection, but they did say some nice things. A few months later, another position opened up, and against my better judgment, I reached out again because the benefits and work environment seemed appealing. I got an interview directly with the director because I could skip the first step. But I heard nothing back at all. It was a really bad way to treat people who might become colleagues. The whole experience gave me a terrible impression of the company, both as a potential employee and a future customer. My advice is to stay away.

Got a referral that boosted my resume. HR in Sunnyvale was super helpful and friendly during pre-interview comms. We scheduled a phone interview since the job was in NH and I'm in the southeast US. The 1-hour phone interview had standard questions about my technical background from my resume. I asked for the hiring manager's email for a thank-you note. After a week of silence, I emailed HR in the second week and was happy to learn the first interview went well. They wanted to move forward with an in-person interview. The initial plan to fly the hiring manager to me changed, and instead, I was to meet the hiring manager and his team in Chicago for a panel interview. They covered my flight to Chicago for a one-day trip. It took about 4 weeks to get reimbursed for the travel. Two team members were quite nice and asked both technical questions and some behavioral ones like "What was the worst mistake you've ever done in a company and how did you handle it?". One person asked about basic SQL+ statements, and then the manager dug deeper into more complex SQL+ statements. About two weeks after the in-person interview, I got a job offer, which I accepted.

The interview process started with three phone interviews. First, I spoke with HR about common interview questions, including behavioral ones, and questions about my past engagements and why I'm a good fit for the role. Then, I had phone screenings with two people at the Senior Director and Director level: one who would be my direct report and another peer. These were more in-depth, covering Project Management, best practices, and situational questions about how to handle specific scenarios. After those, I had two in-person interviews: one with a Senior Director and the second with the VP of Professional Services.

I got contacted in June about this job and was told I'd get a call in a few days to set up an in-person interview. But then, four months later, a different manager called me back. Turns out they were reorganizing when I first reached out. I met with the manager and four teammates. They asked me some standard tech questions about Java, databases, and operating systems, but nothing too deep.