Poll Everywhere Interview Questions
& Process

I had a really great experience interviewing for Poll Everywhere. It was one of the most organized and personable interviews I’ve had, with just the right amount of difficulty. This company really makes an effort to make their candidates feel comfortable throughout the process. There were several interview rounds, with the intention to meet colleagues from the departments that I’d be working closely with. It started with an initial phone screen with one of the recruiters, asking about my former job, what I'm looking for in my next job, my experience level, and salary expectations. I was then asked to complete a remote technical challenge pertaining to my future role via video call. My task was to design lo-fidelity icons (using pen + paper) that could theoretically be featured in the company playbook. The entirety of the remote challenge was very well structured. It was an hour long, with each 10 minute segment accounted for a specific activity - intros, setting up the context of the challenge, asking questions, sketch time, feedback, and another opportunity for final questions. Aside from my inescapable nerves, I felt very comfortable during this challenge because the process was clearly communicated to me. I was told to keep my sketches, as I’d be needing them later in the interview process. The next step was an on-site lunch invitation to meet the team and other employees. I really enjoyed this part of the interview process because it felt more like an opportunity to get to know the people, while they got to know me as well. It was more focused on discovering my personality and shared interests to see if it’s a right culture fit. I was also really grateful and pleasantly surprised for all the company swag that was prepared for me - pens, pencils, stickers, and my very own personalized notebook with my name imprinted on the cover :) I had never received this much positivity from my former interviews, especially in the earlier stages. The next part of the interview was the most challenging for me. I was asked to come on-site to participate in 3 sets of interviews for a total of 3 hours. The first part was an on-site design challenge, a continuation from the remote challenge to convert my lo-fidelity icons into high-fidelity using Sketch and discussing my reasoning throughout (1.5 hours). The second was meeting with the director of engineering and product manager (45 mins). The third was meeting with the marketing team and a front-end engineer (45 mins). Before this intense interview round, I had a brief call with the recruiter where they gave me an exact breakdown of the process and what to expect so there were no surprises. The last formal interview was meeting with the two co-founders (1.5 hours) where I was asked several product-related questions and asked to critique the visual design of a random website. After each on-site, the recruiter walked me outside and asked how I felt about that stage in the interview. I let her know that I felt nervous at certain times, and she reassured me how excited they were about my candidacy. It helped so much to know hear these encouraging words! For the very last part of the process, I was invited to a lovely dinner with the designers and recruiter where I was given my offer letter and had a chance to discuss the offer details privately with the recruiter. To summarize, I was very happy with the professionalism and cordiality with everyone I interacted with. Poll Everywhere did a great job introducing me to their internal values and employee relations. I couldn’t wait to work here and so glad I that I did :)

I was really impressed with how this company structured its interview process; it was a refreshing change from the usual. Instead of the typical info dump and irrelevant coding exercise, the recruiter started by getting to know me. We had a natural conversation where I went through my work history, and she asked insightful follow-up questions about my projects, team dynamics, and responsibilities, including what I enjoyed and disliked. She really understood what I was looking for in my next role and even answered my detailed technical questions about their tech stack, platform, and product roadmap. She was way more knowledgeable than most recruiters. The call lasted about an hour, and by the end, she had me sold on the team and product. Next, I had a live pair-programming session with the hiring manager via Google Hangout for a technical interview, which was a nice alternative to a take-home challenge. The whole experience was consistent and pleasant, and everyone I spoke with was kind and informative. Although it didn't work out for me due to timing, this company is definitely one I'll keep in mind for the future. It was a great example of how recruiting should be done.

So, the interview process at Poll Everywhere was really cool and human, felt super respectful and like they cared about me as a person. It really showed their team culture. I had to drop out early for personal reasons, but I would've totally joined if they'd offered. The whole thing would've taken about 2.5 weeks. I applied on 11/10/2017 and heard back on 11/13/2017. There were 4 steps: a recruiter phone screen, a short video design challenge with the whole team, an onsite, and then meeting with key people like the CEO. The design challenge was fair for the time, well thought out, and well run. It felt like they included me as part of the team while I worked on it. They even used the same challenge for the onsite, which made it easier to pick up where I left off and show my solution. About 2 months later (01/31/2018), I got a swag bag and gift card as a thank you for my time on the challenge. Big thanks to the team for chatting, understanding, and evaluating me. You should totally apply and give them a shot!

The interview process started off, what I thought would be, a normal process where the recruiter reached out to schedule an interview. She was very nice, explained how the call would go, very straight forward. What took me off guard is the, or one of the co-founders, jumped on the call randomly and interrupted the interview to introduced himself and said he likes to be a part of the interview process. His style of "interviewing" felt like I was being belittled and I had the audacity to actually apply for the job based on my answers to his random questions. For the work they were describing, I knew I would've been able to excel at, but with the environment the co-founder presented during the interview made it feel like it was a toxic workplace. Glad I didn't receive an invite to the next round.