Pason Systems Interview Questions
& Process

Pason's interview process often kicks off with a one-way recorded video interview. It's asynchronous, so you'll record your answers to prompts on screen, usually with some time to prep and a chance to redo your answers. Based on feedback from candidates in various roles, including non-technical ones like interns or support staff, this part involves 5-7 general questions, mostly behavioral or non-technical. The goal here is to check your communication skills, how well you'd fit in, your motivation, and basic professionalism, not necessarily deep procurement knowledge.

This was a really discouraging interview experience. Feedback was positive at every stage until the very end. I was moved to the final round, a hands-on project, only to be told they weren't satisfied with a previous interview that I thought went well. First, I submitted the application, which involved recording three or four video responses to their questions. Second, I had a one-on-one Skype interview with the team lead/manager. Third, I completed their on-site interview and was told it went well, and they wanted me to do the final web app project. Awesome! Finally, I spent three days on the final exercise/project. About twelve days after finishing the project, the recruiter informed me that my final exercise and technical skills were good. However, they changed their minds because they decided an earlier on-site interview step showed I wasn't a good fit. I was told I interrupted an interviewer and spoke over them. A heads-up, don't get nervous or talk too much, which I obviously did. The rush to fill this position at Pason became a red flag for me midway through the process. They give you 30 days to complete the final hands-on exercise, or at least that's what they gave me? Also, the time between each interview step mentioned above was as long as 10-14 days? I was really concerned they might not actually want to hire anyone and are just testing their hiring process. Be warned! Anyway, I wouldn't recommend this company, but if you decide to proceed, here are the details. There was an application stage with three or four video answers to questions they provided. I don't remember the exact questions, but they were less technical and more about your background and thought process. This went well enough to schedule a one-on-one Skype interview with the team lead/technical manager. This also went well, and they wanted me to come in for an on-site interview with the team (4 people, 2 in Calgary & 2 in Houston). They asked about a few of my past jobs listed on my CV, personality questions about challenges, hurdles, etc. During the interview, they asked about 20-30 technical CS questions. The questions went well, as I got a couple of thumbs up while answering them. I'm pretty sure I got all but one right, so I think you'll find them easy if you have a CS background and solid experience. Within the next day or two, they wanted to give me access to a private git repo with a starter project. This is a project they give you 30 days to complete. Anyway, I put in three afternoons over the Christmas holidays and submitted it for their review. If you check the Pason Power website, you'll see some screenshots of their products, which might give you an idea of the exercise. The project requires you to build a charting web app in React using some old sample energy data. The repo includes a README with details, build/setup instructions, and expectations. For the exercise, I set up a Redux store with just one reducer and a few actions/action creators. My recommendations: - Fetch the sample data from a Docker container with Influx DB + sample data, which is included in the repo. - Implement functionality to allow sub-selection of data by date range. - Display the aggregate of the returned data (min/max/mean). I just used InfluxDb's SQL to get the data and the results of the mean, min, and max functions. I created three React components within a parent container: - A Charting component using a charting library like Chartist, Recharts, or D3 (your choice). - A Filtering component for selecting the data range. - A component to display the min, max, and mean of the data. A few other points about the exercise: They use 'semantic-ui' components, so make sure to use this UI library in your components. You need to query InfluxDB from the Docker container; if you can write a simple SQL statement, you should be fine. You can query it from your app using HTTP requests; I just used the built-in fetch operation and promises. Good luck!

I found this company on Indeed.com. After submitting my application, an area manager called me for a quick phone interview. He liked what he heard and set up a ride-along, followed by a face-to-face interview. The ride-along was supposed to be around 8 hours but ended up being 12 hours long, so thankfully I brought lunch. The face-to-face interview involved two area managers and two other field techs. They mainly asked straightforward questions about my resume and experience. I was informed that the job is very labor-intensive with long hours and requires three months of travel for training. One field tech mentioned working a 26-hour shift recently, stating that such long hours occur about once a month. I was also told they would interview my wife to ensure she understood my frequent absences and wouldn't interfere with my demanding schedule. This position is not hourly, with a starting salary of $65k annually, which is non-negotiable. Bonuses range from $8k to $12k per year, based on performance and revenue generation.

The interview process was unpleasant. The manager is a woman who is sexist towards other women. She commented on my attire, saying that I was dressed too nicely and basically told me that I can't dress like that if I want to work there. The interview was about an hour, followed by a writing assignment. The manager sat there and watched me complete the assignment. When I wanted to use the restroom, she followed me because apparently they think it's a security risk.