Schoology Interview Questions
& Process

I got referred by a friend. I talked to the vp of engineering, cto, director of quality, lead architect, and eng. lead. This whole thing took about 2 weeks. It was a really good experience overall. First, it was a pretty chill on-site, then a more standard interview, and then I talked to some of the same people again plus one more. Everyone I spoke with gave me a great vibe. I made sure to ask everyone the same questions and got pretty similar answers. They all seemed to be on the same page about the company's direction and the tech they're using, so the team is definitely aligned. The business is clearly growing since they have a lot of open positions. It seems like they're doing well and are in a good spot in the market, but since it's edtech, don't expect a big equity payout anytime soon. I think Schoology has a good shot at succeeding in this space, but it's definitely a long-term play for patient people. It was actually the toughest offer for me to turn down, but I ended up declining. The offer was decent and it seemed like a good opportunity, but I was concerned it might be a step back for me. I figured I'd be using my past experience more than learning new things in the areas I'm interested in. For others, there's a lot of room to take ownership and define your own path, tooling, processes, etc.

They reached out to me for a lead role, but after our first chat, they asked if I'd consider a senior software engineer position instead. I agreed, and we set up an onsite interview. During the onsite, I only had two interviews, one with new people and one with the person I spoke to on the phone. He then mentioned they might not have the budget for me even if they liked me. A few days later, the recruiter asked me to come in for another interview, but only after the initial phone guy called to say he didn't think I was a good fit for Schoology. I went for a second onsite, and it went great. Then the same initial phone guy called again and said I aced the second onsite, but because of how I answered some questions in our first call, I was only being considered for a regular software engineer role (not senior). He also said they couldn't meet my salary expectations. At that point, I withdrew my application.

I first spoke with a recruiter over the phone. After that, within two days, I had to complete a written task about something I'm good at, and then record a video about myself and why I wanted to work there. Then I went to the office for a 45-60 minute interview with a manager. The following week, I had a 2.5-3 hour session where I met with two senior support specialists, an analyst, and the director of customer success, one by one. By the end, I really understood the job, the company vibe, and what they were looking for. It was a challenging but fair process, and the team seemed great. My only issue was that they kept saying I didn't need a strong technical background and often hired people with none, but then rejected me two weeks after the final interview because they wanted someone with more tech experience. That was confusing. They should really screen for basic requirements earlier.

I spoke with the recruiter first, and she thought my background in helping a startup establish processes was a great fit. Then I had a phone interview with the hiring manager. The questions were really inappropriate, like asking about what vendors my current company uses and how much we pay them. It felt like they were trying to get free advice rather than discuss my experience. I was told later that my experience wasn't a fit, even though the hiring manager seemed to be getting operational insights during the interview. Not sure it's a good place for experienced professionals.