Parallels Interview Questions
& Process

I spoke with the recruiter for the Sr. Accountant position. She called me. Although one question she asked was inappropriate ('am I Russian?'), I agreed to proceed because I'd waited a year for an accounting opening at this company. I then met with 4 team members: AP Manager, International Acct. Mgr, US Acct Mgr, and Director of Accounting. The interviews went well with everyone except the US Mgr. He seemed more interested in finding areas I wasn't familiar with, even if irrelevant to the job, rather than assessing my qualifications and fit. I sent thank you notes and was told to wait until after the holidays. When I didn't hear back, I contacted the recruiter. She initially said she wasn't sure if I was selected. Hours later, she emailed that they chose someone else. The whole process felt off. It was rude to interview someone for 4 hours and then delay notifying them of the decision, preventing them from moving forward with other opportunities. If you're considering this company, I'd advise getting more inside information first; they might not be open to minorities.

The HR rep reached out to me. After they reviewed my resume, I had a phone interview with the hiring manager, who would be my direct supervisor. Following that, there was a lengthy in-person interview, about 4 hours long, with five different people. This was for a mix of 'fit' and skill assessments. Honestly, I thought they could have covered everything in under 2 hours. It felt like it took so long because the interviewers weren't well-prepared, leading to repetitive questions. I thought it would have been more efficient if they all met together to hear my answers, then followed up with more specific questions.

I had a call from a recruiting agency. For me, there were 2 steps, both Skype interviews that were about an hour each. First was a Technical specialist interview where they reviewed my CV and asked questions about my background and field of work. The second was a Technical interview with tasks that didn't involve writing code, like 'how would you solve this task' or 'describe the design of the system based on the following requirements'. After the second interview, they realized they needed someone with experience in a different programming language.

Recruiting manager reached out. Had a really good chat, they knew the business inside and out and what was key. Explained the company really well. Then I had a second phone call with the hiring manager. The following week, I went in for interviews with sales and marketing folks. Everyone was on time and really into it. Super enthusiastic about the business and great energy. It was a tough day with a lot of different interview styles.