Shortcut Interview Questions
& Process

The interview process was a bit long, with multiple interviews spread out over a few weeks involving different people. I started with an HR phone screen, then a researcher interview that included a live challenge. After that, I did a case study presentation. Then there were 3 more rounds of interviews with various product stakeholders. Finally, I had a call with product leadership. Everyone was really nice and professional, and the company seems well-organized with good culture and work-life balance. Despite getting great feedback and feeling like an offer was likely, I was surprised to get a standard rejection email after the last interview.

The hiring manager, who is in the C-suite, was unprepared for the interview and arrived late. They didn't stick to the planned agenda or interview length. They were arrogant and aggressive, focusing on grilling me instead of selling the company, giving off a vibe that people should be begging to join. The CEO's choice to put this person in power is questionable given their behavior. I was asked back for another two-hour interview with the hiring manager, but I declined because of their conduct.

It was pretty good until they ghosted me. Started with a call with the engineering VP, had a great chat. Almost immediately scheduled another interview/coding exercise with an engineer the following week, which was also delightful and low-stress. The final round was a 3 hour block of time of back-to-back video calls with different members of the team for team fit interviews and design exercises. All enjoyable, left me feeling good about everything. At the end the two engineers told me to stay on the line so the HR lead could come wrap up with me. The HR lead never showed up after 20 minutes, and I emailed the recruiter asking what was up, and was told that actually I didn't need to stay on the line. That was the last I heard from anyone at the company. After about two weeks none of my follow-up emails got returned.

I got an email for an initial phone screen with the VP of support and success. She asked some general questions, but nothing tricky, and seemed really genuine and honest. I'm trying to move into a CS role from support, so I wasn't the right fit for this specific role, but they told me right away without any delays and I appreciate their honesty. Seems like a great company for employees and candidates with the experience they're looking for.