Perplexity AI Interview Questions
& Process

The interview process began with a recruiter call with Taylor Bell, where we discussed my background and what salary I was expecting. They focused a lot on what I wanted for salary, and didn't share their salary band, which felt a bit unbalanced. Then, I had a second interview set up with Daniela Gomez, but it got cancelled literally one minute before it was supposed to start because she was 'sick.' I get that things happen, but cancelling that close to the time, just with an email a minute before while I was already waiting to join the call, felt unprofessional. I tried to reschedule by contacting everyone multiple times, but I never heard back. It was a disappointing experience overall because the lack of communication and follow-up made it feel like a waste of my time and frankly, a bit disrespectful.

The interview process included three rounds. Round 1 was a 30-minute virtual meeting with a recruiter, who was a bit late. They asked basic questions about my job search, what I'm looking for in a manager, my recruiting experience, and salary expectations, leaving time for my questions. Round 2 was another 30-minute interview with the same recruiter, focusing more on recruiting fundamentals like working with others, dealing with hiring managers, handling tough requisitions, using metrics, and managing conflicting executive directions. Round 3 involved meeting with several people at the SF HQ. I first had a virtual meeting with an iOS engineering manager who wanted a casual chat about my recruiting style. Then, I went to the office for the rest of the interviews. The coordinator wasn't there when I arrived 15 minutes early, so I waited with the front desk staff. A junior recruiter then met me and interviewed me about organization, prioritization, handling managers, tools, metrics, and disagreements with colleagues. After that, I met with an engineering director. After introductions and a quick resume review, he asked about recruiting technical roles, supporting managers, handling candidates, and measuring success. He advised being very direct and concise, interrupting me and summarizing my answers to speed through his questions, stating he had many and wanted brief answers. The initial recruiter couldn't do the final wrap-up due to a conflict. The junior recruiter walked me out, with 15 minutes remaining. There was no follow-up from the hiring manager. I received a rejection email two days later without specific feedback.

I was deep into interviews when I started with Perplexity. My first round was with a recruiter, Lauren, who fast-tracked me to the Perplexity onsite because I had a bunch of other onsites coming up. It’s a great sign when companies are flexible like that. The onsite included 4 interviews: a technical one with the manager where I showed off a project from a previous company. Then, a values and communication interview. After that, I spoke with a product manager about challenging collaboration. The last interview was with the head of growth. Lauren let me know the feedback was positive within a day of the onsite. Even though Perplexity wasn't the first company I interviewed with, they were the first to offer me a job by several weeks. Perplexity was super generous and gave me a few weeks to decide so I could finish up other interview loops. For context, the other companies I interviewed with (FAANG) were really slow with offers. This made me really want to join Perplexity, as I prefer a culture that moves fast. I had a final chat, a sell call, with the CEO Aravind, which was a memorable and enjoyable conversation about the business's positioning, roadmap, and trajectory. I also got to visit the office and meet the team before starting.

First there was a phone screening, then a technical interview. They invited me to a second interview really fast, but the interviewer didn't reply when I sent my availability. This happened two times. So, I had to try a third time to schedule the technical interview. I did the technical interview and it was a frustrating experience. The questions were vague, the interviewer seemed impatient, and they redirected me during every answer.