Rocket Homes Interview Questions
& Process

The hiring process was pretty standard. It started with a recruiter call where we discussed my background and I submitted my portfolio. Then I had interviews with team members, which seemed to go well. The next-to-last interview was with the director. He appeared quite surprised by the emphasis on UX and research, which is typical for product design and something I'd already mentioned. He interrupted my presentation to ask about what he wanted to see, before I could explain my approach and the research involved. He told the recruiter I seemed nervous, but I was just confused because he didn't seem to grasp my portfolio, which he should have already reviewed. They didn't move forward with me because I wanted to explain the process and the thorough research that informed the design, not just showcase UI. Product design is more than just UI, so if you have strong UX experience, be cautious. This company's product designers don't conduct research themselves; they rely on dedicated researchers. They did suggest referring me for a UX strategist role, but as a product designer, I don't work on part of the product. My role involves using research to back up UI design, and I'm not interested in a company that doesn't operate this way or where product designers don't see the value in doing their own research.

The interview process involved a phone screen followed by a Zoom online interview with the hiring manager and two other Product Owners. The company's approach to agile/scrum seems to be more like waterfall in shorter cycles, where sprints and ceremonies don't truly make them agile, as agile is a mindset. BAs are acting as Product Owners and Scrum Masters, which is a challenging situation. The project manager, not the team, owns the project and its product aspects. The team follows the project manager's directives. They might need an agile coach to understand and implement agile principles and guide the team's transformation towards high performance.

It took about 2 weeks. First, a phone screening with a recruiter about the opportunity (20-30 min). Then, another phone interview with a recruiter to go over past experiences and resume items (30-45 min). After that, a virtual interview (since it was during COVID) with two current team members to discuss understanding of the role, past experiences, and aspirations (about 45 min). Finally, there were 5 questions to return to the interviewers on the night of the last interview! (15-20 minutes total time).

I spoke with the Director and Lead PM. They were easy to talk to and seemed really interested in my previous work and the results I achieved. The Director asked most of the questions, and the Lead PM didn't say much. The whole thing took about an hour.