Red Hat Technical Writer Interview Questions
& Process

It started with a call with a recruiter who gave me a lot of good info about the job and the company, plus a clear rundown of how the interviews would go. Then, a few days later, I had a 40-minute chat with the hiring manager and a senior writer. It was pretty chill and not stressful. They asked me some simple stuff like my favorite tools, what Linux distro I like best, and other things. The rest of it was about general technical writing stuff and my experience with docs. The next step was supposed to be a longer call with more people, but I didn't make it past this stage. The recruiter called me to let me know and gave me some specific feedback, which was really nice. All in all, it was a good experience, and the Red Hat folks were very professional.

This whole thing was a nightmare. It took over two months to get through, with five separate rounds. I had to chase them for a response after every single one, waiting about ten days each time. The interviews themselves seemed to go fine. They kept saying how nice I was and that I'd be a great fit. I was really hopeful about getting an offer. But after two whole months and five rounds, they just sent an email saying I didn't make it. It's really frustrating to be treated like this; it took them ages to give me an answer.

The interview process began on Jul 10 with a written screening, followed by a video call with the hiring manager on Jul 20. After I followed up three times, by Aug 4 there was still no decision, and I was told they were still interviewing candidates. The recruiter mentioned they'd start scheduling second rounds "at the end of next week." On Aug 16, I noticed a new job listing with the same requisition number. I followed up again the next day to inquire about this and was informed that "the manager has decided he needs to hire a more jr. candidate based on budgetary constraints." The recruiter also stated they were on vacation and to "touch base on Monday." Given my past experiences with RedHat's slow hiring process, it's hard to believe they took this long for just the first round and were unaware of budget limitations. I'm more annoyed that the recruiter didn't bother to update me, especially after I mentioned their poor communication on this position earlier.