Photon Interview Questions
& Process

The hiring process was way too long and not clear at all. I had more than four interviews, and during the process, they even asked for a resignation letter from my current job as part of a supposed background check, making it sound like the position was basically already mine. For over a month and a half, they kept me thinking that starting the job was a sure thing, just saying there were 'minimal details' left to sort out. But, there was never clear or timely communication. In the end, I didn't get any formal notice from the company. It wasn't until I asked what happened that they told me the client had canceled the vacancy, without much explanation. I think the lack of communication and how they handled the end of the process was unprofessional and can seriously affect candidates, especially when they're asked to make important decisions about their current employment.

We had two rounds, one was a technical screening round and one was a technical round with the client. After the second, I was told it was cleared, but then there was no further communication. The first round was handled by the recruiter, who gave two coding questions that I had to code and send in the chat (the questions were easy). The second round was an Android discussion round with the client (questions covered MVVM, Retrofit, API calls, ViewModel, etc.).

I was interviewed for a full-stack role requiring React and Spring Boot. The first interviewer was unprepared and just read questions without engaging with my answers. He even repeated the questions verbatim when asked for clarification. He left for 10 minutes, allowing potential cheating. The second round was worse, with the interviewer seeming uninterested, asking only about AWS, Kubernetes, and Kafka, and ending the 60-minute interview in 10 minutes. The third interviewer was knowledgeable and asked medium-level questions on Spring Boot, Java, and React. The final round with the director was similar to the first, dictating questions from a bank. The overall experience suggests a company where employees are disengaged and salaries are not justified by performance.

The interview process at Photon was pretty structured and gave me a good feel for the role's seniority. It started with an HR screening where they checked my background, what I expected, and if I'd fit in. Then, I had several rounds with senior people like the CMO, Head of Sales, and even the CEO sometimes. Each meeting was designed to see how I think strategically, execute go-to-market plans, drive demand, lead teams, and align with Photon’s digital focus. We talked a lot about case studies and past campaign results, particularly how I scaled things for big clients and got C-suite buy-in. They liked seeing data and clear communication. The whole thing wrapped up pretty fast, in about 3 weeks, and they kept me in the loop the whole time. It was tough but fair, showing Photon's high standards for marketing leaders. It felt like we were both checking each other out to make sure it was a good match.