People.ai Interview Questions
& Process

The interview process was pretty standard, involving DSA problems, System Design, and behavioral questions. There were 5 interviews with different people. However, it seemed like the team lead for the position really made the decision, as they had a negative attitude throughout several stages. I performed well on all DSA questions, and did great in System Design and behavioral, but the lead seemed unhappy the entire time. It felt like a waste of time because so many stages were involved. After this long process, I just got a simple 'No' with no real feedback, which suggests the outcome was predetermined.

So basically the interview process started with the Head of Recruiting, then I spoke with the Hiring Manager. After that, there were some panel interviews with the leadership team, and then I had another round with the Hiring Manager where we did a case study. Honestly, the interviews themselves weren't that tough, but the whole process could have been smoother. The Hiring Manager kept asking the same questions multiple times. I didn't get the job, and honestly, I'm not sure if I would have taken it anyway because when I told them I had another offer and needed to speed things up, they went completely silent for three weeks. My advice: if someone is really interested in your company, show them the same respect and don't waste their time.

The first round was with the recruiter, and it was pretty average. The recruiter seemed to lack energy and passion, and the questions were generic, which was a bit underwhelming and threw me off. Then, the hiring manager asked me three questions that felt illegal concerning ethnicity, age, and compensation. It made me really uncomfortable sharing that kind of information. While the interviewer was nice, I really think people.ai needs to train their interviewers on what's legally permissible to ask before they get into trouble or make candidates feel weird.

I was referred by someone I was already talking to. First, I had a 30-minute screening call with the internal recruiter. Then, a brief 1-on-1 with the hiring manager. After that, there were more onsite interviews with different team members, and I gave a short presentation where I ran a mock meeting on a topic I knew well. They let me use a deck I was already familiar with, which was nice. Then, I had another set of onsite interviews with senior leaders. Finally, I met with a VP for drinks to chat informally and discuss the offer details they planned to extend. I really liked that they focused on both skills and cultural fit, coming from a startup myself. The interviews gave me a good feel for the company, and I think they got a good sense of me too. The whole thing took about three weeks, even with me being out of town. The recruiter was great, and I felt like every step ensured a good match.