Productiv Interview Questions
& Process

I had an initial chat with the hiring manager. Then, I went through three rounds of technical interviews. They didn't ask any LeetCode questions. Instead, the three technical interviews involved collaborative discussions on system design and product design.

The interview process started with a great first round with the hiring manager, where I felt totally in sync. However, the second round with the engineers was terrible. They asked a coding question that wasn't relevant to the job, and then when we tried to have a conversation, it was barely a conversation. What they did communicate felt totally different from what the hiring manager had said. It's important to get everyone on the same page about what you're looking for.

This interview process spanned from late January to mid-March. It started off pleasant, but the communication and scheduling really went downhill towards the end. I was told by the head of sales to use their scheduler. I reached the final round and confirmed my interview SEVEN DAYS before with their scheduler via email. She put it on the calendar. I prepared for the sales mock presentation, which required me to commute to the office. Then, the DAY before my final round interview, they canceled it saying I didn't confirm. I messaged the Head of Sales on Linkedin, showing him the email confirmation from 7 days prior. He said he'd sort it out, but instead sided with the scheduler, saying the cancellation was due to me not accepting the Google Calendar invite. They pointed out a small detail to deflect blame, which seemed like a red flag. They didn't send a follow-up reminder about needing to accept the invite in the 7 days between my confirmation and the cancellation.

I had an initial screening call with the recruiter which went well, and then I was scheduled for a call with the hiring manager. The questions were mainly about my current role, the projects I’ve been responsible for, and what I’m interested in. I thought the conversation went pretty well overall. But I got feedback that I was rejected because they wanted more technical details and some insights into the business model and system design. I guess I assumed those topics would be covered in the system design interview, so I gave a high-level overview of my projects instead of diving deep into technical specifics. Since it was only a 30-minute interview, I focused on giving a brief summary of my work. Looking back, I really wish they had communicated the interview expectations more clearly beforehand so I could have adjusted my answers.