Proterra Interview Questions
& Process

It was a 2-part interview. First, a phone screen with HR, then a panel interview with the hiring manager and other managers/sr engineers. The panel interview involved giving a presentation about my previous work and then going into detail on a project I selected. They asked questions about my experience and the project I presented, plus some situational questions to gauge my teamwork abilities.

Had a bunch of phone interviews (like 3 or 4) with people from the team. Then, there was this really long in-person interview that lasted about 6 hours with different people. Two parts of the in-person thing were case studies, and they didn't tell me about them beforehand. I actually had to use a PTO day for this all-day thing. Didn't get the job, and the worst part is they didn't even tell me. I had to chase them with 3 follow-up emails before anyone bothered to say they were looking at other candidates. Honestly, if someone is going to put that much effort into interviewing, and use their own time off, they deserve a quick call to know where they stand. The whole company seems pretty disorganized.

So HR first reached out for an initial screen, and then there were five 30-minute interviews total. They said they wanted to decide fast so I had to get it all done in a week, which was rough and I had to really shuffle things around. Two of the interviews, the Proterra people didn't even show up, wasting over an hour of my time. One interview was a panel where I had to show a PowerPoint deck with my ideas on their business direction. After all that, I didn't get any feedback, even though I asked, until I got a rejection two weeks later. Their communication was really bad because all the feedback I got during the interviews was positive.

I got an email to set up a phone interview after applying online. It was easily the worst and most unprofessional interview I’ve been a part of in my 10+ year career. During the 45 minutes, I was only able to get a few words in the conversation because I was being told how great and amazing Proterra was as a company. This was more of a sales pitch than an interview. When I was finally able to share my accomplishments from my industry, I was immediately compared and sized up against their company. Essentially, my current multibillion dollar employer and industry was not as “demanding and difficult” as their industry would be. Interesting that someone feels the need to share such “wisdom.” The biggest red flag was when the individual said they plan to bring the California “way of working and mindset” to Greenville. Really, companies are now bragging and endorsing a “States culture mindset” as a selling point that I should work for them? There is a reason engineers come and go so quickly from those great California companies....but I guess Greenville South Carolina is the next hot spot for the California culture. Engineers- My advice is to keep searching.