SparkPost Interview Questions
& Process

The interview process was quite long, if a little sporadic: 30 Minute conversation with the recruiter, 30 Minute conversation with the Head of UX, 60 Minute interview with the UK team, and a 60 Minute interview with the USA UX team. This was over the course of 3 consecutive days as they were keen to have the interviews before the festive break. The teams seemed nice enough, but there seemed to be a lack of communication between the Head of UX, the UK team and the USA team as I had to repeat myself three times in separate calls - not the most efficient candidate experience. I felt like the UK team didn't really have a structure in place and were just winging it in the moment along with asking trick questions that had no real value to the role. After those stages of the interview process I was advised that they still wanted to speak with other candidates and I wouldn't know a resolution for around 3-4 weeks. With the current job market, this didn't really work in their favour.

It was a 3 stage interview process. First, I had a phone screening with the recruiter, then a second phone screening with the hiring manager. Finally, I had a 4-hour in-office technical interview. During the onsite interview, we had a thorough discussion about troubleshooting skills, various internet protocols (especially SMTP), *nix fundamentals, AWS features, scripting skills, and configuration management software (like Ansible, Puppet, Chef). The in-house interview was a good experience; everyone was polite and friendly, and there was a lot of laughter. There was no whiteboard coding or hands-on technical challenges. The questions were mostly scenario-based or "how would you..." type, which I liked because it showed they knew what experience they needed and weren't just asking trivia. The manager was very transparent about their culture and candid about the type of people who would fit in. Sadly, their Seattle office shut down, which I think affected the job. I only found out I wasn't getting an offer through the Jobvite portal. The recruiter vaguely asked a month later if I'd be interested in remote-only work, but still hasn't followed up. This whole situation with communication and management raises red flags, and I would avoid SparkPost because of it, even if a remote or Seattle role opened up.

So, the interview process I went through was a couple of phone interviews, starting with a screen and then a deeper one with the Director of Support. After that, they flew me out to Seattle for an in-person interview with that Director, a senior support person, and the CTO, with the technical focus increasing. Now, it's a bit different for most folks applying for similar roles. Usually, it's the phone screen, then an interview with one or two support managers, followed by an in-person panel interview with the support team. This second interview is kinda technical but more chill because it's a panel, then a quick chat with the Director, and then they decide.

It was a referral, so a lot of the initial chat happened casually on the phone. After sending my resume and applying, I spoke with about 4 different people over the phone, mostly directors in engineering and sales, for about 30 minutes each. Then, I quickly had an in-person meeting with the SE Manager. A few days later, they flew me to Seattle for an interview with the director of engineering. This interview expanded into a lunch with the CEO and VP of sales, where they made me an offer on the spot. I really liked that laid-back, efficient approach.